


Secret Chord

by NyxEtoile, OlivesAwl



Series: Tales From the Tower: The Next Generation [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Original Work, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Absent Parents, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Medical, POV Character of Color, Slow Build, Unplanned Pregnancy, new generation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-08-31 15:30:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 52,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8583838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyxEtoile/pseuds/NyxEtoile, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlivesAwl/pseuds/OlivesAwl
Summary: "I just - I'm really not superhero material."

  "Then it's on you to become superhero material."

  "Maybe I don't want that. Maybe I'm perfectly happy with who I am."

  Eli looked at her a long moment, something intent in his gaze. His eyes had little flecks of gold in the dark brown. "But you're not. Are you?"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh, it's finally here! The first of the Next Generation. I know, it's not the most imaginative name, but we are both Star Trek nerds, so we couldn't resist. We'll start with Thursday/Saturday updates.
> 
> Title is from the Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah.

Everyone said the 30 hours shifts were hell and based on Tess’s fellow residents they certainly seemed to suck. She didn’t mind them much. There were opportunities for cat naps and the coffee in the hospital cafeteria was on the decent side of bad. In medical school she’d done a full load of classes and worked full time and had almost certainly gone longer than thirty hours with good sleep during exams.

Of course, she was really looking forward to the three whole days off she had coming up.

“Sullivan!”

She finished filling out the medication order before looking up. There were way too many horror stories about getting distracted during charting. Most of them were probably urban legends, but she was still meticulous about finishing her thought before moving on to the next thing.

After triple checking there where the right amount of zeroes she looked up and smiled at the approaching doctor. The smile faltered a little when she saw it was the head of ER. “Sir?”

Despite being at Boston Medical Center for well over a year, she still wasn’t entirely sure what some of the resident advisors thought of her. She generally tried to stick to the middle of the pack, get her work done, and keep her head down. It was a strategy that seemed to work. But it left her utterly unprepared when someone tried to single her out.

“Hospital administrator wants to see you,” the older doctor said. “Head upstairs.”

Tess blinked. “I have an hour left on my shift.”

“It’s covered.” He offered her a rare but genuine smile. “You’re not in trouble, Dr. Sullivan. But you should get moving.”

She nodded, slipped the chart she’d been working on back into its slot, and headed for the elevators.

The hospital administrator, Jonathan Pike, had given a speech at orientation last year. He had been a surgeon for almost forty years before moving on to administration. He was as old as the hills, but clear eyed and sharp as a tack, according to hospital scuttlebutt. Tess had no clue what she could have done to draw his attention, but by the time she reached his door her stomach was twisted into a sour knot.

“You’re fine,” she whispered to herself. “He said you weren’t in trouble. Maybe. . . maybe you’re getting a raise. Or they’re switching your rotations.” Those were both extremely unlikely options but thinking of them was enough to settle her stomach. She blew out a breath and tapped on the door.

“Come in!”

No going back now. She pushed the door open and stepped into the office, closing the door behind her. “You wanted to see me, Dr. Pike?”

“Yes, thank you, Dr. Sullivan.” He gestured to one of his guest chairs. “Though it’s not me who wanted a word.”

There was a woman in the chair. She stood to greet Tess, smiling and holding a hand out. Tess took in the glasses, dark hair threaded with white, and pale scar on her cheek and her brain froze and rebooted.

“You’re Amanda Newbury-Barnes,” she said, automatically taking her hand.

“Yes, I am,” Dr. Newbury said, smiling a little wider. “And you’re Esther Sullivan.”

Holy shit, Dr. Newbury knew her name.

“I’ll give you the room,” Dr. Pike said, standing and coming around his desk. “It was good to see you again, Amanda.”

“Thank you, Jonathan,” she replied.

He shook her hand briefly, more like an affectionate squeeze, then turned to Tess and gave her a gentle cuff on the arm.

Her brain took the time to reboot again and she found her sitting in the other guest chair, next to Dr. Newbury, who had turned them to face each other.

“You were an Avenger,” Tess said, because the silence was pressing in on her.

“I am,” Dr. Newbury replied.

“You developed a super soldier serum.”

“I did.” She paused and asked gently, “You done?”

“Uh-huh,” Tess squeaked.

“Okay. I can skip a little of my spiel because you clearly know who I am.”

_There were people that didn’t?_ She stopped herself from saying it, which had to count for something.

“I’m assuming you also know I work with the new team?” Tess nodded frantically, not trusting her voice. Dr. Newbury continued, “Do you mind if we talk about you a little bit?”

Tess shook her head. “No, ma’am.”

The older woman pulled out a slim tablet and flicked her finger along it. “Pre-med at University of Kentucky. Did you go there wanting to be a doctor?”

“No, ma’am.” Apparently she was going to need to be involved in this conversation. “I was going to be a teacher.”  
 “What changed your mind?”

“I took a biology lab - it was an accident in my schedule - and I really liked it. The teacher said I had an aptitude for it. So I took a chemistry class the next semester and that went okay, too. Sophomore year they offered a genetics class and I’ve always been interested in that. You know, why my eyes were blue but my brothers all had hazel. . .” She trailed off. Probably too much information. “Came time to pick a major and, I don’t know. It just seemed right.”

Newbury was studying her with an odd expression on her face. “Med school at Duke. Was that your first choice?”

“I didn’t really have a first choice, it was more about what I could manage with loans and financial aid.”

“And I assume that’s why you’re tracking for emergency medicine? ER doctors make a lot right off that bat.”

“I have a lot of debt,” Tess said quietly.

Newbury’s smiled was sympathetic. “If money was no object, what would you do?”

Tess blinked a few times. “I - I thought about volunteering with the Peace Corps or maybe helping at a free clinic. But it’s really not. . . I don’t like to think about impossible things.”

“I see.” Newbury glanced at her notes again. “I’ve spent the last couple of years - on and off - looking for my replacement on the team. I’m not as young as I used to be and superheroing is definitely a young person’s job. I’ve interviewed a few candidates, but no one has fit. But I keep asking for recommendations.” She glanced back at Tess. “Would it surprise you that your name has crossed my desk from a couple different sources.”

“Yes, ma’am, that would surprise me very much,” Tess said in a rush.

“Because you like to stay to the back of the room and not get the attention. You had high marks in all your classes, never a late assignment, never an unexcused absence.” Newbury smiled and tilted her head. “Usually doctors have at least a little ego.”

“Just seemed better to keep my head down. Ma’am.”

There was a moment of silence while Newbury studied her and Tess wished the floor would open and swallow her up. Then Newbury said, “A hypothetical situation. You’re working at a clinic that becomes ground zero of an unknown attack. You are unharmed and are able to bring some basic medical supplies when you evacuate. What’s your next step?”

Tess blinked a moment and considered it. “Fall back to where the authorities have deemed safe and set up a triage for injured. Work with first responders and coordinate any other medical staff, until someone in charge arrives.”

“What if you are the one in charge?”

“Ma’am?”

“You don’t have to call me ma’am, you know. Amanda is fine, we’re both doctors.”

Tess was pretty sure her mother would know, somehow, that she was calling a superior by her first name and smack her mouth telepathically across the miles. “I really don’t think I can do that, ma’am.”

Newbury grinned. “You’re in charge. You were first on scene, it’s your supplies and equipment being used and all the EMTs know you set up the triage. No one is going to take over for you. You’re in charge.”

“Oh.” She licked her lips and thought again. “Stay until the last of the wounded is through and then go to volunteer at the hospital with the most need.”

Apparently, that was the right answer, because the next thing out of Newbury’s mouth was, “How would you feel about being an Avenger?”

Tess had read variations on the whole blood roaring in your ears cliche more times than she could count. This was probably the first time she had actually experienced it. She couldn’t hear anything but a faint ringing and her vision started to grey.

She felt Dr. Newbury’s hand on her back, pushing her down so her head was between her knees. “Breathe,” Newbury ordered.

Tess sucked in a breath. Then another. Until she could hear again and probably wasn’t going to faint. Only then did Newbury let her sit up and hand her a bottle of water.

“I _can’t_ be an Avenger,” she managed to get out after a couple slugs of water. “I almost passed out when you suggested I be an Avenger. I can’t fight bad guys or - or save the world.”

“If you had asked me at twenty six if I could do any of those things, I would have said no, too,” Newbury told her gently. “And maybe you can’t. But I think you can. I think you can do _great_ things, if given the chance.”

“You don’t know me,” Tess said, feeling a little miserable at disappointing this woman she’d always admired.

“I know enough. You’re smart and kind and don’t want the spotlight. Your first instinct is to help. Your instructors like you, your fellow residents like you.” Newbury took her hand. “Dr. Pike said you have a few days off coming. Come to New York with me. Meet the team, see what I’m asking of you. Try on a suit. Then make your decision.”

Tess found herself studying the little silver colored ring Newbury wore. It had a bright red ruby in the middle, surrounded by diamonds. It was very pretty and elegant, like the woman herself. “And if I still don’t think I can do it?”

“Then you come back here and finish your residency out. No hard feelings.”

But probably no second chance. No wait-and-see. This was one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. The kind that should be impossible for a girl like her. But here it was, and she was acting like a coward. “Okay,” she said softly. “I’ll come and check it out.”

Newbury smiled widely. “Great. We can leave as soon as you’re packed.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She winced as soon as the word was out of her mouth, but Newbury just chuckled and shook her head.

“Do you think you can manage to call me Doc?”

Tess smiled a little. “I can try.”

They flew down to New York in a private jet. A steward served them tea and finger sandwiches and Tess felt very shabby in her holey jeans and scuffed up sneakers. A black car with tinted windows met them at the airport and drove into the city.

"I've never been to New York," she commented, looking out the window at the massive buildings.

Doc glanced over at her. "Do you want to try to do some tourist things while you're here? Half the team are locals, more or less, they'd be happy to show you around."

"I don't want to be a bother." Tagging along with a couple of Avengers to see Times Square or the Met or something sounded both terrifying and humiliating. She'd thought after living in Boston - and even Durham - she was used to big cities. But she supposed nothing really prepared you for New York.

Stark Tower was an enormous building, with an expansive lobby and a long bank of elevators. Most doors had the Stark Industries logo etched on them, but one bore the Avengers' "A". There was no button, it just opened when Doc approached it.

"FRIDAY, this is Tess," she said as the doors closed.

"Hello, Tess," an Irish accented voice replied from somewhere above them.

"She's visiting us this weekend, Delta level authorization."

Tess pointed upward and arched a brow. Doc grinned. "AI. Runs the building. Ask her anything you need to." A beat, then she added, "You get used to it."

"I highly doubt that."

The elevator shot upwards, fast enough she could feel it in her ears. When the doors opened, the first thing she saw was a bank of massive windows with an amazing view of the city. The next thing she saw was the group of people sprawled on couches to the left.

The New Avengers - as the media had christened them years ago - weren't quite as larger than life as the original group. But they were still pretty famous. Even through med school and residency and her crazy hours Tess had seen them on magazine covers and news sites. 

Her first instinct was to duck back into the elevator, but Doc caught her arm and steered her over to the couches. "I know you're tired, but let's get introductions out of the way," she said in a remarkably chipper tone. "Then I'll take you down to your room."

She squared her shoulders and eyed them. Four men, three women, one teenage girl and a purple android.

Most of them were smiling. She could do this.

"This is Dr. Sullivan," Doc was saying from behind her.

Feeling like a bit of a dork, she waved a little. "Hi."

"Starting at the left, this is Nate, Cassie, Peter, Eli, Kate, Vision, Ada, Wyatt, and Kamala.

She probably wasn't going to remember all of that, but since she wasn't convinced she was staying, it didn't entirely matter.

"Welcome to the circus," said the last guy on the right. Wyatt. Dark hair that was clearly long enough to be put up, and ethnically ambiguous features. Worn cowboy boots but no corresponding accent.

"Depressing lack of clowns, for a circus," the girl sitting next to him commented. She was younger than the rest of them and Tess couldn't remember seeing her on the news.

"Unless you count Nate," said the Asian woman on the other side of the android. She hopped to her feet and skirted around the coffee table to shake Tess's hand. "Nice to meet you, Kate Bishop."

"Tess. Sullivan." She shook her hand - probably a little too long - and cleared her throat. "Sorry. Little overwhelmed. Meeting you all."

"As you should be," said the first guy. "We're famous and awesome." Him she definitely recognized. He flew the Iron Man suit and looked strangely like Tony Stark. It was, if anything, even more noticeable up close.

"You can ignore him," Kate said in a stage whisper.

"Lord knows the rest of us do," Kamala added. Tess knew her, too. Every few months someone would get a picture of her superheroing in a head scarf and some bigot would get up in arms. She came over to shake hands as well. "Though I am actually kind of awesome."

"We're all awesome," Nate insisted.

"You are exceptional," the blonde girl she didn't recognize said. "There's a difference." Then she decided to hop up and come over, too. She kicked Wyatt's legs off the coffee table. She was blonde and pretty, though she clearly didn't care about that—and she was _really_ young to be an Avenger. "I don't fight," she added, like she could read Tess's thoughts.

"Oh." The girl's hand was rough, with odd little calluses that reminded her of a surgeon's hands.

"Ada builds and maintain's the team's equipment," Doc explained. "In between classes at Columbia."

"I inherited the job," Ada told her. "My dad's Bruce Banner. The Hulk," she clarified, though Tess had actually known that one. "You must be exceptional, too."

Tess shook her head. "I'm really not-"

"Yes, you are," Ada said. "Or Doc wouldn't have brought you." She stepped back and gave Tess a thorough once-over, then looked at Doc. "I'm going to need to make some adjustments to the Hospital. I'll see you in the morning." With that she headed for the elevators.

"You'll get used to that," Nate said. "Apparently when you hit a certain level of genius you test out of social kills."

She was tempted to say she wasn't getting used to anything, but it seemed rude and contrary for the sake of being contrary. "Good to know."

"Miss Ada means well," said Vision, the purple android, and one of the few original Avengers who still went into the field.

"Right," Doc said. "I think that's probably enough for now. I'm going to show Tess to one of the guest apartments. I'm sure you'll all see each other around over the next couple of days."

They made noises of agreement, and Tess waved before following Doc out. That had gone okay, she thought.

"They've all known each other for years," Doc told her as they rode the elevator down a couple floors. "So they can be a little insular with new people. But they're good people."

The guest apartment she led her to was very nice, with a huge bed and another breathtaking view of the city. "Make yourself at home. There's some basic groceries in the kitchen and FRIDAY can order you any kind of takeout you can imagine. If you need anything, have her call me, otherwise I'll see you in the morning."

Tess nodded. "Thanks, Doc."

*

"I had no idea Doc 2.0 was going to be that hot."

It was as certain as the rotation of the earth that either Nate or Wyatt was going to say that the moment the elevator doors closed. Eli rolled his eyes and got up to get a drink, mostly so he could kick Wyatt's boots off the coffee table again for being the one to say it. The poor woman looked like she'd been about to implode out of fear or sheer shyness.

"Don't be an ass," Kate said, following Eli to the fridge.

"I'm pretty sure that was a compliment," Nate offered, leaning over to fist bump Wyatt.

Eli glanced over at Kate, and lowered his voice. "I'm more concerned she looks like a stiff breeze would blow her over."

Kate smirked. "Doesn't really have Doc's gravitas, does she?" She poured herself some water and sipped it. "Ada's right, though. She wouldn't have gotten this far if she didn't have something going for her. Do you know how many people Doc's rejected?"

"Not as many as Barton rejected." When looking for a pilot, anyway. There had been no auditions for the replacement Hawkeye. There had only ever been Kate. "I thought it would take longer."

Most of their team had been assembled by the US government when they were teenagers, in a misbegotten attempt to develop a more controllable batch of Avengers. It had gone poorly, and after a couple of years and a couple of messes, the remnants of the original Avengers had come to train them. They'd filled in the team's gaps, and eventually started to hire new people to replace themselves. First order of business had been to find someone to fly their asses around, which involved Clint Barton putting what seemed like every pilot in the country through a hellishly difficult simulator.

"Well, she's just gonna keep us alive if we get shot. Wyatt is in charge of millions of dollars of equipment." She said it with a grin. Sipping her water again, she looked over at the others. "You think she's gonna run?" she asked.

"She certainly looks like she wants to."

He couldn't read Kate's face as she finished her water and put her glass in the sink. "Well, it'll be fun watching Doc beat her up."

"Just wait until Doc introduces her to the rest of the Grownups." They were all well into adulthood—Ada excepted—but the still called the previous generation the Grownups. 

Kate grinned. "Well, there's incentive to get up for training in the morning."

The next day was Saturday, which meant training was technically optional, but you got judged if you skipped it. A couple of them - mostly Nate and Cassie - didn't really care about getting judged. Kate usually showed up, but took the opportunity to sleep in. Kamala was there, everyday. Eli wasn't entirely sure if Kamala ever slept, ball of energy that she was. Peter usually went, if he didn't have a date the night before. 

Eli liked to use it as an opportunity to try new things. He worked mostly with Steve and Bucky in hand to hand stuff. But in the last few years he'd learned shooting and sniping, as well as some knife work. Recently, he'd started working with Natasha on agility. Which included ballet training. Fortunately, Nate was smart enough not to be a smart ass to his face.

"Your bend is better," she told him as he paused to drink some water. "I'm impressed."

"I have no idea why people say this shit isn't a sport," he replied.

"People say that in my hearing I break their toes." Sometimes he really couldn't tell when she was kidding.

"Have you met the new girl, yet?" he asked.

"Sullivan?" She shook her head. "Doc is showing her the labs, but said she'd swing by here on the tour. Read her file, though."

"They didn't share files with us." Of course they didn't.

"We want you to judge her on her own merits," Nat said. "I'll tell you she's in her second year residency in Boston and she's from Kentucky."

He smiled a little. "Yeah, I know a hillbilly accent when I hear it."

Nat laughed. "Amanda's from North Carolina. Maybe she's got some southern sisterhood thing going on."

The main door opened and he heard Doc's voice saying, "-the main training room. There's a gym with more standard equipment upstairs, but this is where the big hitters go."

Tess stepped inside the room, followed by Doc. She looked just as nervous and overwhelmed as she had the night before. And just as pretty. Wyatt hadn't been wrong about that.

Supersoldier hearing let him eavesdrop a little.

"Would I be training?"

"Some," Doc said, blatantly ignoring the tinge of panic in the other woman's voice. "You'd be in the field, so some hand-to-hand is expected. The medical suits will protect you and have defensive weapons, so that will help." Doc spotted Eli and Nat and started leading Tess over. "We'd probably have you work with Nat to start with, she'd good at training people who're. . ." She hunted for a word, looking momentarily awkward.

"Helpless?" Tess offered, with a little smile.

"Underestimated," Nat supplied, holding out a hand. "Natasha Barton."

Tess shook her hand and managed to keep the smile in place. "Tess Sullivan, ma'am."

He'd been on the couch last night when Doc tan through the names, but he hadn't actually technically introduced himself, so he held out a hand. "Eli Bradley." 

Her hand disappeared in his, but she smiled a little more easily. "Hi. I remember you from last night."

"Most people do," he replied, matching the smile. He was not a man people overlooked.

That actually made her chuckle, which had to be some sort of miracle. Doc's brows went up a little at the sound. "I'm trying to convince Tess to go out and see the city once I'm done with her today."

"And I've assured her I will get horribly lost and never come back," Tess said.

"You can't come here and not see the city," Eli said. "As a native New Yorker, I'm offended at the idea."

"I never really thought I'd come here, so I don't even know where I'd go. I don't know anything about art, and I get seasick so I don't think seeing the Statue or Liberty would work out. And the street was really loud and frantic-" She snapped her mouth shut, blushing. "I'm really not a city gal."

"There's a lot more to New York than crowds and tourist traps, believe me. Plenty of quiet if you know where to look."

Nat slapped him on the back. "That almost sounded like volunteering to be tour guide, E."

Playing tour guide was not Eli's idea of a fun afternoon. Small talk wasn't his strong suit, particularly with someone he didn't really know. But he realized the craziest thing: Doc made her nervous, Nat made her nervous. . . but _he_ did not. And Eli made most new people nervous. _Particularly_ small white women. It was such a surprise that he found himself saying, "I don't have any plans this afternoon."

"I don't want to impose-" she began but Doc talked over her.

"You should see the city. If you're going to sign on, you should get the big picture. And I trust Eli not to let you get lost."

Tess hesitated a moment, then looked at Eli. "If you're sure."

"Absolutely." He was pretty sure Natasha and Doc were staring at him, it was so out of character. He didn't look at either of them.

"Well. Okay."

"I'll be done with her by two," Doc said, in her neutralist of tones.

"I'll come down to the med floor," he replied, not wanting the poor woman to have to wander around upstairs looking for him.

"Then I'll see you at two," Tess said, with a shy but sincere smile.

Eli watched her walk out, still surprised by his own impulses.


	2. Chapter 2

The labs were _amazing_.

Tess hadn't given much thought to research when in med school. She liked the hands on work and didn't know if she really had the brain to create things or discover things. But even she was a little starry eyed at the equipment Doc and her team had access to.

Most of it was based on Wakandan tech. The isolationist country had opened its borders some in the last decade, especially in humanitarian channels, so some of the equipment was familiar. But much of it was still years ahead of anything she'd come into contact with.

"Most of it's cost," Doc explained after letting Tess play with one of the 3-D imagers. "Even with serious discounts, a lot of this stuff isn't feasible at a commercial level. But T'Challa and Tony make efforts to get versions to aid groups. And new stuff is coming up all the time."

Tess was still trying to wrap her head around being on a first name basis with kings and billionaires, but she gamely followed her back to her office.

"So what do you think?" Doc asked when they got there.

"It's. . . very impressive. I mean the research stuff is a little beyond me but. . . If you were hoping to distract me with toys you succeeded."   
Doc grinned, like that was exactly what she'd been doing. "I know how doctors like our toys. Though I saved the big guns for tomorrow. Literally and figuratively."

"The suit?"

She nodded. "Ada's tweaking a little for fit. And I didn't want to overwhelm you today. I know it's a lot of information to take in, and a big decision."

It was maybe the biggest decision of her life, one that would change its trajectory in unpredictable ways. She rather appreciated Doc trying to pace her. "I have a lot to think about," was all she said.

"Enjoy your afternoon in the city," Doc said, nodding her head a direction over Tess's shoulder.

She turned to find Eli waiting in the doorway for her. She hadn't even heard him come in and was kind of impressed a guy that big could move so quietly. She glanced back at Doc and nodded, then went to join him in the hall. "Good timing."

He smiled at her, revealing what she had previously observed to be absolutely perfect teeth. She supposed someone born with the supersoldier serum in their DNA wouldn't have any physical flaws.

They walked down the hall to the elevators in silence. She kind of liked that he didn't force conversation. Of course, spending the whole afternoon in silence might be awkward, pointless small talk could be just as bad.

"So where are we going?" she asked as they hit the lobby.

"The North Woods," he replied.

She paused. "I have no idea what that is."

"It's my favorite part of Central Park. Though I am going to make you brave the subway on the way there."

"That seems like a good balance. The subway and nature, all in one trip."

They went down to the station beneath the building. She couldn't help but notice people moved out of Eli's way. It was subtle, but he cut a swath. She didn't particularly mind, it got her a little personal space in a crowded subway car.

"So you grew up in New York?" she asked over the roar of the train.

"Up in Harlem," he said. "Before it was trendy."

She nodded, then laughed a little. "It's trendy?"

"It's gentrifying. People with money cannibalize the ghetto, run the existing residents out."

"Oh. There were some other residents back in Boston complaining about that. Their previously affordable apartment getting sold to some developer to make condos."

"It happens everywhere. Life on the greed treadmill, I guess. It's sad, my neighborhood is unrecognizable now."

"I'm sorry, that sounds awful." She ignored the vague pang of guilt and regret she sometimes got thinking about home. "I'm from a town of two thousand people. So I don't know that I need to worry about that."

He laughed, and the sound rumbled. Given he was a potential coworker, she really shouldn't be thinking about how much she liked his voice. But it was impossible not to.

The laugh made some people look over at them, with varying expressions. Tess made a point of ignoring them. Someone had once told her not to make eye contact on public transit or you were asking for trouble. Though she was guessing only the very stupid or very drunk would try to start something with Eli.

They reached their stop and he lead her out of the car and back up to the surface. The street crowds behaved like the subway crowds, people sliding out of his way, and they were at the park in a few minutes. He picked a direction and it got densely wooded quickly as they walked. "In case this is creeping you out, just keep in mind, I am _terrified_ of Doc."

"I would think one of the Avengers being secretly a serial killer would have made the news by now," she said before she could think better of it. She covered her mouth with a hand like it would somehow help.

He laughed again, but it was a real one and not a chuckle. The sort of laugh that boomed. "Fair point," he said.

She hoped he wrote off her blush as embarrassment at her words and not a reaction to that laugh. She was definitely going to need to get used to that if she decided to work for the Avengers.

The woods were nice, she could focus on that. "I wouldn't have thought there was anywhere like this is New York." She couldn't even hear the sounds of the city anymore.

"There is everything in New York. Everything. That's what makes it the greatest city in the world."

She smiled. "You really do love it, don't you?"

"I may be living on borrowed time, I like being somewhere that I can have all the experiences I want."

The reference to his . . . condition surprised her. She knew, from rumor and a the things Doc had said that Eli's inherited supersoldier powers came with an almost guaranteed case of early-onset dementia. His grandfather had begun to show signs before he was forty. Which meant, unless Doc could find some sort of treatment, Eli had only about a decade of health left. It was a frightening thing to live with.

"What do you like to do?" she asked. "When not training or dragging some hick around the city?"

"I like finding quiet places. So, unfortunately, I do like museums. The science ones are better than the art ones, though. I like finding strange old books in the library. Ada and I started a game who can find the oldest, weirdest one."

Tess actually facepalmed. "The library. I didn't even think of that. I love books. I must have read every book in town back home. Most of 'em twice."

He laughed again. “Well, all you need now is a talking candlestick."

"You laugh, but I relate to Belle way too strongly."

"There are useful parallels in most fairy tales. Smart girl who doesn't fit in her provincial town, tossed into a strange environment filled with weird magical people. It fits your moment."

It was a pretty apt parallel, if she thought about it. And she had always related to that movie. There was something vaguely "magic fairytale castle" about the Tower. "Does that make Doc Mrs. Potts?"

"I'm not sure Doc is that warm and fuzzy." He paused. "It's possible _I_ am Mrs. Potts in this tortured metaphor."

She had to laugh at that. "I promise never to repeat this conversation to anyone who would tease you about that."

"The fact that I'm having a coherent conversation about Beauty and the Beast is probably bad enough."

"That hadn't even occurred to me," she admitted. Wasn't everyone in the world conversant in old Disney movies? "You want to go to the library and see if we can find some weird old books? There's some gross stuff in old medical journals."

He grinned. "We could also dig up a guidebook for you to read, so you can pretend you saw some sights."

"That sounds like an excellent idea."

And so that's how they spent most of the afternoon, taking up half a table in the Rose Reading Room leafing through 18th and 19th century medical texts full of strange drawings and long forgotten diseases. Half a dozen different people came up to him to ask for selfies or autographs. Afterwards he insisted they get a cart dog. "I promise I will never do this again, but you have to have one once. Might as well get it out of the way."

"I'm almost certain that, as a medical professional, I should disapprove of this."

"Probably," he said easily. He ordered six hot dogs. One for her, five for him.

"And I thought my brothers ate a lot," she commented as they found a bench to perch on and eat. She nudged her onions around to get more even coverage. "Though they don't have the supersoldier excuse."

"I have always eaten my poor mother out of house and home." He demolished the first hot dog in two bites.

"Does she still live in Harlem?"

"She does," he said. "I bought her a condo. You may have noticed this gig pays pretty well. I want her to be taken care of, considering the way all the men in my family go."

"I admit the generous compensation package is a big check in the pro column." She took an experimental nibble of her hot dog and was pleasantly surprised.

"Have you ever been to the Mutter Museum?"

She chewed and swallowed before answering. "No, but I want to. A friend in med school was from Philadelphia and said a visit in high school was what made her want to be a doctor."

"I've always wanted to go. It sounds gross but fascinating." He shrugged. "Genetic aberrations interest me. Perhaps because I am one."

She tilted her head, clinician taking over for a moment. "I don't think that's quite the right term. Your genetics are perfectly normal for your family. You simply have a sex linked genetic disorder." There went her mouth ahead of her brain. "I mean that in medical terms. There's nothing wrong with you. Well, I suppose in the big picture there would be but I'm not saying that _you're_ wrong." She sighed. "I'm going to eat my hot dog now."

He looked down at her a moment. "Can I give you a tip?"

Stifling another sigh, she said, "Sure."

"You keep apologizing like that, the rest of them are going to eat you alive. Insult them with confidence, and stand by it."

She laughed a little and shook her head. "I will try to keep that in mind."

"Some of them can smell fear," he told her.

"I have no doubt." She sighed again and poked at what was left of her hot dog, no longer hungry. "I don't think I have much chance of all of them liking me anyway."

"Why the hell not?"

She shrugged. "I can't imagine what we'd have in common."

"Well, nobody in the universe would fathom us having anything in common. Looks can be deceiving."

That was probably true. And just because she'd never been very good at making friends didn't mean it was impossible. Eli was nice and he seemed to like the others. Maybe she just hadn't met the right people. "I'm not even sure I'm staying yet."

He made a face. "That's bullshit."

She jumped a little. "I beg your pardon?"

"This is the opportunity of a lifetime. What could possibly prompt you to turn it down? Fear?"

Saying it like that made her feel awful. But didn't make it untrue. "I just - I'm really not superhero material."

"Then it's on you to _become_ superhero material."

"Maybe I don't want that. Maybe I'm perfectly happy with who I am."

He looked at her a long moment, something intent in his gaze. His eyes had little flecks of gold in the dark brown. "But you're not. Are you?"

She clenched and unclenched her jaw, looking away from him. "I should get back to the Tower. I have a busy day tomorrow." She got to her feet, balling up what was left of her hot dog and wrapper. "Thank you for showing me around."

He got up slowly. "It's only a couple blocks back, we can walk."

She nodded and walked to a trash can to throw her wrapper away, then waited for him to show her where to go. She absolutely would have walked off in a huff if she'd had to - Avengers Tower was huge, surely she could find it - but she was rather grateful she didn't have to.

They walked in silence most of the way, but it actually wasn't awkward. He was clearly someone who was okay with not talking.

At the elevators she turned to him again. "I really did have a nice time today."

That made him smile. "Good," he said quietly. "Me too."

Now it was a little awkward. This felt very much like the end of a date, but none of the expected endings to a date seemed appropriate. "I'm sure I'll see you tomorrow."

The elevator doors opened and they both stepped in. Somehow he managed to fill the car. "There's a big brunch spread on Sundays up in the penthouse. I'm not sure when it starts, but there's always plenty of food still when I get back from church around 11."

Tess didn't think anyone her age still went to church. "Doc had more for me to do tomorrow. But I'll try to come up and get a bite."

"Good luck," he said quietly.

"Thank you." She didn't really know what else to say. The elevator doors opened on her floor and she stepped out into the plushly carpeted hallway. Glancing back, she waved a little as the doors slid closed again.

*

Amanda remembered the first time she put on the original Doc suit. It had been bulky, with a huge, heavy back piece and wrist gauntlets twice as big as her actual forearms. She'd given Tony a list of “need to haves” and “like to haves” and, to his credit, he'd gotten almost all of them in, at the cost of aesthetics and aerodynamics. In retrospect, that must have extremely difficult for him. But, much like his suits, once he had the general idea, he decided it was time to make it better. And he'd spent a good portion of the last decade doing so.

The suit Tess was trying on was the latest version. It had just about everything the original suit had, at a third the weight. It could fly, while the first one hadn't been able to manage more than a really good jump and some enhanced running. It was armed, something Amanda had long fought against, but had long since become a necessity.

If she was honest, it was a little hard to watch someone else dart around in it. She'd been looking for a replacement for a couple years now. She was the only original member who still regularly went on missions, other than Vision, the rest of them had long ago passed the torch. She didn't do much actual fighting and the suit did most of the work. But she was fifty this year and wanted to retire to her lab. There was a lot to be done and field work was a distraction. 

Ada had promised that the suits for the new medic would be a different color. Maybe that would help.

Tess landed in front of her and retracted the faceplate. She was grinning and out of breath, looking young and far more relaxed than Amanda had seen her previously. She had to smile back. "Fun, isn't it?"

"It's amazing. I can't believe how many features it has. It's like wearing a hospital."

"We used to call it the hospital in a backpack. Be glad you're in the new versions, the original might have tipped you right over." She gestured. "You want to take it for another spin?" She'd set up a kind of medical obstacle course in one of their large training rooms, with a variety of emergency situations and some timed enemy events. Tess had sutured up two dummies, set and splinted a leg, diagnosed a diabetic seizure, and med evacced three mildly injured bystanders. Despite early nerves she'd handled it all without hesitation and in what Amanda considered a good time.

"I think I'm okay," Tess said, though she sounded sad. "It's getting a little sweaty in here."

Amanda laughed. "Try it with hot flashes."

They walked over to the seats set up along the edge of the room so she could walk Tess through taking the suit off. "It's easier to do it to yourself," she said.

Tess nodded, carefully unfastening the knee joint. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything you like."

She glanced up at her. "Why did you pick me to come here? I know you said a lot of people recommended me, but you had to have other recommended candidates."

Amanda studied her a moment. "My mother died when I was eight. And I spent the next couple of decades trying to find some sort of purpose in that loss. To find a way to make it make sense. I found it in being a doctor, in helping heal people. I don't know what your home life was like, back in Kentucky. But you've worked full time since you were eighteen, signed up for every kind of scholarship and financial aid you could get and made up the rest in student loans. Your emergency contact is blank. I get the feeling you're using medicine to run away from something, just like I used to to run to something. Running that long. . . teaches you something. How to be strong. And stubborn. How to not give up."

Tess seemed to turn that over in her head, carefully taking the suit off one piece at a time. "You don't. . . you don't really know me. You can't know that's true."

"I have been wrong before," she conceded. "Don't think this is one of those times."

She sighed a little. "Well. It doesn't sound like the team needs any more egos."

"No. Neither did my team." Some of her fondest memories were watching those egos run up against each other. "What it did need was a cool head in a crisis and a different way of looking at the world. Doctors tend to have both of those." She helped her ease the chest plate off. "The world needs superheroes, like it or not. And superheroes need someone to patch them together. Literally or figuratively."

Tess stepped out of the boots and surveyed the pile of plastic and metal she'd just been wearing. "I'm never going to be you."

Amanda glanced upward and prayed for patience. Egos were far easier to deal with. The rest of them managed to mentor people with relative success, she could do this. She was a mother, for godsakes. "Tess," she started as gently as she could. "Everyone has their own calling. If doing this doesn't speak to you. If you really think you're better off being an ER doctor or working in a clinic, then I can respect that. But if you say no because you're scared or you think you don't deserve it. . . then you haven't run as far from Harlan as you think you have."

She flinched a little, as if Amanda had struck a physical blow. Her throat worked a little, but she didn't reply, or look at her. Off to the left, the door opened. James and Steve had offered to come help her bring the suit back up to Ada. "Go on," she told Tess quietly. "I'll clean this up."

Tess nodded and hurried off, dodging around the men without a glance.

"How's it going with proto-Amanda?" James asked.

"If we could give her some of proto-Tony's ego it would probably help."

"Were you like that at that age?" Steve asked. Steve whose age looked completely ambiguous these days. Not quite as young as the new team, but nowhere near the rest of them. He and James seemed to be aging—James had even found a gray hair the other day—but you wouldn't have put either of them much over 35.

"At her age I was in the middle of my surgery rotation and thought I might actually be God." She started gathering up the pieces of the suit. "Jonathan Pike, who was my surgery mentor, says she has the same drive and focus I did. But the personalities don't really overlap."

"I think you should put her in the field," James said. "She'll either rise to the occasion or she won't, and then you'll know."

"I didn't know baptisms by fire were approved training methods manual."

He took a couple of the heavier pieces from her. "Chapter three. Steve wrote it."

That made Steve laugh. Then he said, "It's not the worst idea. She'll need some training in the suit, first, but getting a feel for the team dynamic might be a good thing."

"She actually took to the suit pretty well. Though she hasn't actually agreed to sign on yet."

"That part I can't help you with."

"No." They had everything gathered up and headed for the doors. "I gave her my best sell. We'll see if it worked. I'm not used to building up egos. Most of you I need to tamp them down."

"Clint is good at pep talks," Steve said. "And also convincing people they're Avengers."

"Dammit, I knew I should have tried him." They paused to wait for the elevator. "Eli showed her around the city yesterday. I was hoping that would soften her up, too."

"If you can't get along with Eli, you can't get along with anyone," Steve said as they stepped into the elevator.

"She said they had fun. Something about old medical books at the library and cart dogs. But apparently he didn't sway her decision making." She shifted the gear she was holding and James reached over and plucked a couple pieces off her pile to make it lighter. "I know the superhero's life isn't for everyone. But I think she's got it in her if she'd trust herself."

"Maybe not being swayable is a positive character trait." The doors opened on the lab/workshop. When it had been Tony's lab, everything had been sleek and clean and minimalist. Now it had plants and posters and purple floor mats. Not to mention every square inch seemed covered in Ada'a chaos. She only ever cleaned it when Tony was in town. He had a section that was his, but the disorder in her area apparently made him itch.

Ada always knew where everything was, though, and there seemed to be an order to the madness. It was just an order only Ada knew.

She was hunched over something on a bench, carefully soldering something with a little laser pen. Without looking up, she called, "How did it go?"

"Very well," Amanda told her, setting down the suit on an empty bench. "Tess had no problems at all. You're tweaks to the UI were a good idea."

"They usually are." Ada straightened and blinked at them. "When she starts I can sit down and see if there's anything she wants added."

Amanda shook her head. "I don't know for sure if she's going to sign on yet."

"She will." Ada said it lightly but confidently, leaning over her soldering again. "86% chance, anyway."

"You know 86% of all statistics are made up," Steve said.

Ada sighed the sigh of a girl who had been dealing with dad jokes from seven different dads for most of her life.

"How was your biology test?" Amanda asked. Ada didn't often need school help, but she picked their brains when she had things in their fields of speciality.

"Missed one question. Mixed up carpals and tarsals. Tried to argue that on an actual skeleton I'd know the difference between a foot and a hand but the TA was unswayed."

"Someday, you too will be a surly graduate student," Amanda said.

"I intend to be a confusing TA. Surly's too much work."

In her pocket, Amanda's phone buzzed. She pulled it out and found a new email from Tess titled "Job Offer."

_Dear Dr. Newbury. Upon careful consideration I have decided to accept your generous offer and join the Avengers team as their medic. I am available to start immediately._

She grinned. "Looks like I'm getting replaced."

Ada looked over at Steve. "Eighty six percent." She went back to her torch, then looked back up. "Hey. Ask her what color she wants on her suit."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suuuuuper long chapter. Happy Thanksgiving American readers! And happy Thursday everyone else!
> 
> Trigger warning for a medical procedure less graphic than they used to do on ER.

Eli had been sixteen when the battle of Sokovia happened a decade before. He remembered watching news about it on TV. In the original aftermath, the world poured in aid and assistance. It was a popular cause for charities. But rebuilding a country that had been failing even before a major disaster was a tough job, and international interest waned long before it was done.

It fell back into the shadows. While everyone was busy paying attention to the pissing match between the US and Wakandan governments over who controlled the Avengers, a despot took over. Tiny nation, nobody cared. Until that despot spawned a terrorist organization that seeped beyond the borders. The Avengers had been cleaning it up ever since.

"So we're sure there are no civilians in this compound?" Eli asked Kate, who was leaning against one of the struts holding the jet's ramp flicking through a tablet.

"The intel I saw was consistent," Nate said from a few feet away. He liked to answer questions meant for other people. "I still think that's a little tight," he said to Ada, who was crouched down fiddling with a piece of his leg armor.

"Maybe you're getting fat," Ada replied without looking up.

"In the calf?"

"You have been hitting the candy pretty hard," Kamala said.

Nate looked over at her. "Not helping."

"Multiple aerial views indicate no civilians," Kate told Eli, ignoring the other two. "But we can have Cassie do a sweep and Nate do a scan when we get there."

"Jet's prepped," Wyatt said from the top of the ramp. "If you think there might be civilians, we should bring Big Doc instead of Little Doc."

Kamala tilted her head. "Are we going with Little Doc? Seems a little demeaning."

Ada finished her tinkering and stood. "She is approximately three inches shorter than Dr. Newbury."

"Thank you, Ada," Wyatt said.

"Tess is coming," Eli said. "Don't be a jerk."

He held up his hands, and went back into the jet.

"Where is she?" Ada asked. "I need to check her suit." She'd moved on from Nate and was fiddling with the web shooters on Peter's wrists. He was more patient than Nate about Ada's fussing.

"It's her first day," Cassie said, reaching up to dangle off a beam at the top of the hatch. "Doc's probably giving her a pep talk and a shiny apple for Kate to shoot off Wyatt's head."

"That _would_ endear her to me," Kate mused.

At the other end of the hanger, the elevator doors slid open to reveal Tess, already suited up, sans face mask. She hesitated a moment when she saw them all gathered at the jet, then straightened her shoulders and headed forward.

Doc's suit had been blue and silver, with a rod of asclepius on the arm. Nate's was an eye catching red and gold. Tess appeared to have gone with a very neutral gunmetal grey, with burgundy highlights a few shades darker than Nate's. Including a cross on the arm that very clearly marked her as a medic.

Ada sighed and muttered, "So boring."

"You wanted a glitter finish?" Peter asked her.

"She's from the south, I thought she'd appreciate it."

"I'm the medic," Tess said, reaching the end of the ramp. "I'm not supposed to stand out." She looked at Kate. "Sorry I'm late."

"Punctuality is not my jam. Apologize to him." She pointed at Eli. "He's the only one who cares."

Tess promptly turned to him. "I'm sorry I was late."

Her seriousness made him smile. "I accept your apology."

Ada finished with Peter and insisted on checking out Tess's suit. She bore it with remarkable patience. Then they loaded up onto the jet, taking their seats as Wyatt checked in with air control. 

Landing and taking off from this building was wickedly difficult. You emerged from a door right over midtown Manhattan. Only a handful of people were good enough to do it well, but Wyatt made it look like it was no big deal. Still, they tended to hold the chatter till they were out of city airspace.

Everyone had their own way of psyching up for a mission. Nate, Kamala and Peter were talkers. Cassie played games on her phone, occasionally adding commentary. Kate was quiet. Sometimes she'd count her arrows or fiddle with her bow. Sometimes she meditated. Today she was definitely in fiddle mode. Eli knew she took her role as leader seriously and imagined she was a little tense about having a new member under her command. Doc, while she'd listened to Kate when given orders, had been pretty self sufficient.

Eli himself liked quiet. In general, but particularly before missions. He just didn't get it much, because he was nowhere near as good as Kate at tuning out the world.

He was sitting with his eyes closed, trying very hard not to pay attention to the rousing debate about who would win a firefight, Stormtroopers or Star Trek ensigns, going on to his left. When he realized someone was singing to his right.

Tess had sat herself away from the rest of them, which everyone had respected. Given how nervous she was the rest of the time, trying to interact before a mission might actually cause some sort of stroke. When he'd last looked over at her she was reading over the mission briefing on her phone and seemed okay. Now she was looking off into the middle distance singing something quietly under her breath about digging coal from the bottom of your grave. Which would have concerned him had she not been a very good singer and looking the most relaxed he'd seen her in ages.

He didn't want to interrupt her, so he just watched. The rest of them weren't paying attention anyway.

The last line was about never leaving Harlan alive. She drew out the last note, slow and sad. Then she seemed to notice him watching and jumped a little, blushing.

"We all have our methods," he said.

She lifted a shoulder. "I've always liked singing."

"You are a woman of many talents."

"I can cook, too," she offered with a little smile. "Didn't seem practical on the jet."

"There's a bigger long-distance plane that has a galley."

Her brows went up and her smile widened. "Good to know."

It was impossible not to grin back. "You were singing a country song, weren't you?"

She nodded, looking down briefly. "It's about the town I'm from. 'You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive.' Kind of an unofficial anthem, especially when I was in school."

"I. . .can't say I've heard it." Eli wasn't sure he'd ever actually listened to a country song all the way through.

Tess laughed a little. "I'm shocked."

"So is your hometown populated with zombies and vampires or what?"

"God, that would be so much more interesting." She shook her head. “No, it's just. . . very poor and kind of insular and it's hard to break free of that. Only about half my high school class went to college. Some people don't even finish high school. There's a lot of crime. Drugs. The mine used to be always hiring but with Stark moving the world towards other energy sources there's not a lot of legitimate jobs anymore."

"There are always people left behind by progress, aren't there?"

She nodded. "It's hard to change. It's been a way of life for hundreds of years and now it's slipping away."

"So you were one of the few that got out. You persona non grata now?"

Her face fell and she looked down. "That might be an understatement. But no, I haven't been back."

"We're all kind of misfits and black sheep here," he told her. "You'll fit in."

She nodded and took what sounded like a shuddery breath. Clearly a deep scab there. "That will be nice," she said finally.

"We're the weirdest people you'll ever meet. But we take care of each other."

That got another nod, then she lifted her head to give him a real smile. "That is something I'm good at, too."

"Doc wouldn't have picked you if you weren't."

They landed about an hour later. Kate sent Nate and Cassie ahead for one last civilian check while the rest of them took a more circuitous, but hopefully stealthier approach. He kept an eye on Tess—who stayed well to the back—as they got into position.

"I'm not seeing anybody but these militia assholes," Cassie said. "And I'd bet you a million bucks there are no women here because this floor is disgusting. I feel like I'm on a craggy alien planet."

"That was more information than I needed," Kate told her. "We're in visual range. Can you get yourself somewhere safe before we move in?"

"Right now I'm hiding from a cockroach the size of a brontosaurus."

Kate tipped her head up and shook her head. "Well, clearly you have more important things to worry about than us. Carry on."

"Remind me to never borrow Cassie's suit," Tess muttered under her breath.

"I could tell you stories," Cassie said. "So many horrible stories."

"We look forward to you ruining dinner with them later," Kate told her, tone clipped. She was properly in Hawkeye mode now. "Nate, take out the sentries in the western guard tower, I'm going to use that as a perch, then start causing some chaos in the courtyard. Cassie, if you find any heavy artillery or vehicles, dismantle them. Kamala and Peter, head to the back and pin them in." She paused. "Tess, give Eli a boost over the wall, then join me in the watchtower."

Eli looked over at her, honestly expecting her to look afraid or skeptical. Instead her face was calm and blank, and she waved to him. "Come here, let's get on with it."

"So you _do_ have a Doc Mode."

"You don't get through your first year of residency without one." There was the blast of gun fire and yelling, indicating Nate had started the chaos.

Tess's repulsers fired up and she hooked her arms under Eli's, lifting him up. "Bet you never pictured doing this," he said.

"Dr. Newbury did not mention taxi services, no." She got him over the top of the wall. "Want me to put you on your feet or drop you on top of someone?"

"Might as well use me as a projectile," he said with a grin. He liked this girl.

"The skeleton really isn't built to absorb impact from above," she told him as they picked a likely target. He had the biggest gun and seemed distracted by Peter. "Terrible for the spine and joints."

"Kate," Nate fake-whined. "Tess is _scienceing_ us."

He reached for the shield on his back. "I'll cannonball."

"Good luck." She sped up a little, then gave him a little swing and let go before veering back up, out of the shooting. Eli tucked up behind the shield, hitting the guy with his full weight, sending him flying.

He was in the fight then, his mind clearing and his focus narrowing. He was aware of where everyone else was—he was the sergeant on the field, so to speak, because Kate was in her perch and wanted eyes on the ground.

Kate kept up a good stream of warnings, moving them around as needed to keep the fight contained. They had a couple stragglers that Nate and Kamala went after. Cassie sabotaged all the trucks, so escape was limited. The fight stayed inside the compound walls, exactly where they wanted it.

When the initial fight was over and all identified targets were down they regrouped by the ammo bunkers and did a search for weapons or any other surprises they didn't want in the hands of local authorities.

"That went surprisingly smoothly," Nate said. "I feel like there's another shoe."

Wyatt came on the comm, "Well, locals are inbound, we should probably split in a hurry."

Kate glanced at the rest of them. "Not seeing anything beyond standard black market stuff. Anyone have any reason not to bug out?"

"Let's roll," Eli said.

They headed back to the jet, all of them a little on edge. They really weren't used to everything going through without a hitch.

"Maybe New Doc is lucky," Nate offered once the jet was in sight.

Several of them protested in union. "Do not jinx us," Peter said.

Kate shook her head. "Wyatt, Nate's tempting fate, gun the engine."

He lowered the back gate instead. "Come on, assholes, I'm hungry."

They boarded and took off without incident. Once they were in European airspace Nate decided it was safe enough to start peeling out of his suit. Cassie gamely helped Tess do the same. The rest of them loosened or shed any unnecessary gear as well.

"Good job guys," Kate told the group in general. 

"Are we completely devoid of injury?" Eli asked.

"I feel emotionally scarred by that cockroach," Cassie informed him, poking at something in Tess's wrist gauntlet.

"We're fine," Peter said, before Nate could come up with something to say in return.

Kate leaned over to talk to Tess. "We dragged you out for nothing."

She smiled and shook her head. "In the ER we'd say the best days were boring days."

"Better than your first mission going totally sideways," Kamala said. "Like mine, for example."

Tess turned to her. "It did?"

"We fought the original Avengers," Cassie said. "It was a shit show. We're lucky nobody died."

Tess looked over at Eli, like she wasn't sure if she was being tricked or not. "Why were you fighting the original team?"

Eli sighed. "We were put together to replace them. The government at the time wanted a more controllable team that was beholden to them. That would follow orders and their loyalty would lie with command and not each other. When the incident with the Sokovia Accords happened, we were sent to 'apprehend' them."

Her brows arched high on her forehead. "I was in college when the Sokovia Accords happened. You all must have been teenagers."

"I was fifteen," Peter told her. "Fighting Nat and Bucky and scared out of my mind."

"They could have killed us," Kamala said. "All of us. Only person alive I can't outrun is Pietro Maximoff, and he didn't touch me."

"They were going to," Kate said grimly. "Steve had given the order. They needed to get to their plane and we were in their way. Then they realized we were kids and. . . that was it. Doc, Steve, Bucky, and Tony made a break for it. The rest of them surrendered." She shook her head. "If Peter hadn't spoken to Bucky when he did I'm guessing a few of us wouldn't be here today."

"Okay, but his metal arm was _really_ cool," Peter said.

It made the group of them laugh, lightening the mood a little. "When we get back we should do a victory dinner," Nate said. "Officially welcome Tess to the team. Exchange embarrassing stories."

"I vote for steak," Wyatt called from the cockpit.

"Tess should get to choose," Kamala said.

Eli was happy to see that amusement was beginning to tinge the look of panic Tess wore at being put on the spot. "I like steak," she offered.

*

When Tess had officially signed onto the Avengers, she'd filled out the paperwork for direct deposit. Dr. Newbury had assured her that her first check would show up within two weeks and offered to help with any moving expenses. Tess didn't own much, so she'd just borrowed an SUV from the motor pool, drove it back to Boston, filled it with her stuff and drove it back to the Tower. They'd filled her fridge and she was living rent-free so she hadn't thought much about her pay until she'd checked her bank account and discovered it had quintupled.

It had caused a minor panic attack. She had never had that much money in her account at once. Money that came in had always gone back out to tuition or housing or text books or food. Until recently a balance in triple digits had been almost unheard of. Her father had never been able to keep a dollar in his pocket. Any kind of windfall immediately became a fancy meal or a gun for him or a new dress for her mama or toys for the kids. It was a little embarrassing that her first instinct was the same. Swinging all the way to the other side and using it entirely on bill payment didn't feel healthy either.

In the end she put a thousand dollars towards one of her student loan accounts and then went to buy some new clothes, including shoes. Something she was very grateful for when she went downstairs to meet the rest of them to go out to dinner. Once steak had been agreed upon, FRIDAY had gotten them reservations at a nice place in Manhattan. Tess furtively looked it up on her phone and confirmed it was not a place one wore thrift store jeans and beat up tennis shoes.

The dark burgundy dress and black heels seemed just about right, based on everyone else's outfits. Kate looked like she'd stepped out of a fashion magazine, the boys all cleaned up nicely and Kamala has on a silk headscarf with a floral pattern.  
.  
"That's lovely," Tess said, gesturing to it, earning a grin. They were still waiting on Eli.

"We tried to convince him to keep his uniform on," Nate said. "We get free shit when he does. But apparently he doesn't like being a ‘spectacle.'" He made the air quotes and everything.

He did look rather nice in his uniform. Not that she was going to say that out loud. "It would draw a lot of attention."

"I can tell you're talking about me," Eli said from behind her. That voice of his still got her.

Tess turned to find him standing right behind her, in black slacks and a dress shirt with the cuffs unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up a few inches up his forearms. She'd never seen him in anything but casual clothes or his uniform. This was. . . a very nice change. Nice enough she was incapable of coherent speech for a few moments.

"Nate's lamenting his lack of free shit," Cassie told him, evidently oblivious to her sudden case of stupids.

"If he wants prizes, he can wear his armor."

Nate's eyes lit up and Kate reached out and grabbed his ear, dragging him towards the door. "No. We're gonna be late for our table."

"You sure you want to work with these lunatics?" Wyatt drawled, apparently to her.

She shrugged, heading out to the waiting car with him. "I've seen worse."

When they got there, Tess realized it was perhaps the nicest restaurant she'd every been in. The rest of them seemed pretty causal about it, like they ate expensive steak all the time. They took up a big table in the middle of the room and she found herself next to Wyatt and Kamala with Eli across from her. There was a lot of silverware and a wine and water glass set out. She felt vaguely nervous and out of place. As if one of the waiters was going to realize she absolutely didn't belong there and would ask her to leave.

Well, steak was steak, right? She had money in her account and had survived her first Avengers mission. If that wasn't an excuse to splurge she didn't know what was.

Wyatt leaned over and said, "I was in the Air Force before I ate somewhere they gave you two forks."

She felt her cheeks heat. "That obvious, huh?"

"Only because I speak redneck. I don't know if bumfuck Kentucky is anything like bumfuck Alaska, but the nicest restaurant in my hometown was a knock-off Denny's."

"We had a Hardees," she admitted. "And a Dairy Hut. For special occasions there was the Coal Miner Cafe."

"Yeah. Manhattan's a trip."

The waiter came around and took drink orders. Tess didn't have much stomach for liquor, and the iced tea up north was never sweet enough, so she stuck with water. The rest of them started debating appetizers while she was still having a mild heart attack over the entree prices. She could have fed herself for a week on some of them.

Across from her, Eli ordered a 42oz steak and _four_ sides.

No one commented, and she knew the serum ramped up metabolism, so clearly this was normal. She got a filet with peppercorn sauce and creamed spinach. Eli and Wyatt both gave her approving looks when she ordered it rare, though.

The team was a mix of quiet people and talkers. The talkers kept up a stream of companionable chatter. They had a particular dynamic to them and she found observing it useful. Cassie, Nate, and Peter could fill any silence. Kamala chattered as well, but seemed to make more of an effort to pause to let the quiet ones get their say. Kate and Wyatt were both ready with the sarcastic quip. And Eli observed, much like she did, with the faint smile of someone watching his crazy family at a reunion.

The steak was delicious enough to probably be worth its price. The table was debating dessert when there was a crash behind her, and a woman started screaming.

Tess and the others jumped, turning to find the source of the sound. She spotted the older woman kneeling next to a girl a little younger than Tess. She was sprawled on the floor, gasping, hives blooming on her arms. The rest of their table was standing around, looking on in horror.

Without thinking about it, Tess pushed away from the table and darted over. "I'm a doctor," she told the older woman. "Does she have allergies?"

"Peanuts. The waitress said they didn't even have any in their kitchen." She looked down at the girl. "Oh, God."

"Calling for an ambulance," Nate said from somewhere behind her. 

"Thank you," she called back so he knew she'd heard. She took the girl's pulse and found it rapid and irregular. Her lips were starting to go blue and her gasps were turning into whistles. "Does she have an epi pen?"

She'd started to cry quietly. "It expired and we could afford to replace it."

Tess grit her teeth. "Nate, ambulance give you an ETA?"

"Ten plus minutes."

Too long. She looked at the older woman. "Her airway is closing. I'm going to need to circumvent it so she can keep breathing until the EMTs get here." Without waiting for a response, she went up on her knees and scanned the room. Most of the dining room was staring at their little tableau.

Her team was all up and ready to help. "Kamala, get me the lighter from the man in the sport coat over there. Peter, I need the bendy straw from the mom with twins. Cassie, get me the two vodkas on the rocks from the divorcing couple by the window." They ran off and she turned to Wyatt and held out her hand. "Pocket knife."

"How did you know—" he started, a Q&A she didn't have time for. He had cowboy boots on. Most likely it was there, on the side of his dominant hand. She reached over, yanked up his left pant leg and pulled the knife out from exactly where she'd thought it would be. A blur flickered in her peripheral vision and then solidified into Kamala, who'd gotten all the stuff herself before the rest of them could move much.

"Thank you." She flicked the knife open and used the flame from the lighter to heat the blade. One vodka was splashed over the straw and the patient's throat, the other onto Tess's hands. It wasn't a scrub in, but it was better than nothing.

Patient was now purple with no breath sounds. Tess used her fingers to find the anatomical landmarks she needed. "Anyone who's squeamish about blood should look away now," she announced before cutting into the cricothyroid membrane. She slid her pinkie into the horizontal slit to hold it open as she reached for the straw. A couple seconds later the straw was in place and she gave a couple short puffs of air into it. The girl's chest lifted. One more good breath in and she started to breathe on her own.

Her mother let out a sob and put her hand over her mouth. Tess monitored her patient's pulse. "Nate?"

"Any minute now."

She sat for the longest two minutes of her life, keeping pulse with one hand and holding the straw in place with the other. The EMTs finally arrived, parting the crowd like the Red Sea. Tess updated them as they taped the straw in place and took vitals. Then they loaded her up onto the gurney and wheeled her out, her parents trailing behind her.  
 Tess watched them go, then turned back to her table, scooped up Nate's whiskey sour, and knocked it back.

People in the restaurant began applauding.

The clear eyed focus she got when she was working started to fade and she hunched her shoulders as it to hide from the sudden attention. She realized she was holding Wyatt's knife and handed it back to him. "Thanks."

"How did you do that?" he asked.

She blinked. "I'm a doctor. They teach us that stuff."

"They teach you how to mcguyver surgical tools from strangers using telepathy?" Kamala asked, then added, " _Are_ you telepathic?"

"No, I'm not enhanced. Emergency trach is a pretty standard procedure to know, there's a lot of injuries that can interfere with breathing and a straw is recommended for the airway." They were all still staring at her so she sighed. "Okay. They guy with the lighter has nicotine stains on his fingers and teeth - clearly a habitual smoker, bound to have a lighter or two on him. This place is too nice for kid's cups so I figured anyone bringing two kids under five would have their own straws. The couple by the window are dressed nicely but clearly aren't on a date because the body language is all wrong. He's got a dent in his finger where his wedding band used to be and she's got an engagement ring and diamond band on her right hand not her left. Probably a couple in trouble and working it out so no way they were drinking ice water and the glasses were wrong for it to be gin and tonics so they were probably straight alcohol which meant vodka." She shrugged. "Simple."

There was a moment of silence, the Peter said, "So you're Sherlock Holmes?"

She couldn't tell if they were impressed or weirded out or some combination of both. Eli had told her they'd smell fear, so she decided to just own it. "Well, I don't do cocaine. . ."

Nate put his hands on his hips. "Okay. Now I get it."

Tess frowned. "Get what?"

"Why you're the new Doc."

The words took a minute to really hit her. Then she felt herself grin despite the fact she was blushing again. "Thank you." She cleared her throat and looked at the rest of them. "I should go wash my hands. Then maybe we can revisit the topic of dessert?"

Eli grinned. "We'll get you anything you want."


	4. Chapter 4

The team generally got some down time in the days following a mission. Even without injuries people tended to be sore or have their schedules screwed up. Not to mention the occasional late night of celebration. The Grownups seemed to respect that and would cancel training and unnecessary meetings until people were ready to start up again.

So Eli was having a lazy morning on his couch when there was a knock on his door. He was feeling lazy enough he didn't get up. "FRIDAY, who's at my door?" Most of them had FRIDAY automatically announce things like that, but the surveillance required bothered Eli, so the AI only interacted with him when he specifically called her. 

"Dr. Sullivan," she replied. "Would you like me to let her in?"

He was wearing his rattiest t-shirt. He glanced down at it and told himself there was absolutely no reason he should care about that. "Yeah, thanks."

There was a brief pause, he heard talking outside the door, then it slowly opened and Tess poked her head in. "I'm having trouble with the invisible butler thing," she admitted. "Is this a bad time?"

"Come on in, I'm just chilling and literally doing nothing."

She came in, closing the door behind her. "That's great news because I've come to ask a favor."

"Absolutely." He shifted to the end of his couch, and held out his arm indicating she should sit. She hesitated slightly and he got the distinct impression some very southern internal voice was lecturing her about sitting with a man unchaperoned. Then she gave herself a little shake and joined him on the couch.

"You have a very nice view," she commented.

"Is it that different from yours?"

She pointed vaguely. "I'm on the other side of the hall so technically it is different buildings."

"There is a raging team-wide debate over which side is better."

"Of course there is." She fidgeted with a loose thread on her sleeve. "I was wondering if you'd come to the hospital with me."

Eli blinked in surprise. "Are you sick?"

She looked as startled as he felt, then she waved her hands. "Oh! No. No, I want to go see the girl I helped last night. At the restaurant. I called her father - he gave me his card when they were going out - and he said she wanted to meet me."

He smiled at her. "And you want company?"

"I'm not really good with. . . new people." Why she thought he'd be better, he couldn't fathom. Then she added, "I'm hoping if I start babbling and sounding like and ass you can just bodily remove me before it gets too bad."

"You saved their daughter's life. There's probably not much bad you _can_ say."

She spread her hands. "But that's almost worse. I was in doctor mode when I did that. Normal Tess and Dr. Sullivan are two very different women."

"I have noticed that, yes."

Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. "I just thought having a wing man might help."

He reached over and touched the back of her hand. "I'd be happy to come be your muscle."

"Thank you," she said softly.

"Just let me change," he said.

She hopped to her feet. "I'll meet you in the hall."

"You don't have to go into the hall," he said, and watched her blush. It was very obvious when she did so.

"No, it's okay, I have to get something from my room anyway." It was said in one long rush, with barely any space between the words. Without letting him protest again she headed for the door.

He watched her go for a moment, wondering if he'd offended her. Then he went into his bedroom to find a nicer shirt.

She was waiting for him in the hallway when he was ready, a little paper gift bag dangling from her hand. They caught a cab to the hospital and found the girl's room. Her mother was sitting with her and immediately hopped up and hugged Tess when they came in.

"Hi," she said, clearly flustered. She patted the older woman's back. "This is my friend, Eli," she added. "He was there last night."

The woman in the bed looked a hell of a lot better than she had the night before on the restaurant floor. She waved. "I'm Grace," she said, voice raw. "This is Mom. Sorry about her."

"They're Avengers, I think they can withstand a hug," her mother replied, making Eli laugh.

"I'm Tess, by the way, we weren't properly introduced." She ducked out of more hugging and went to Grace's bedside to hand her the gift bag. "I got you this."

She reached in and pulled out the tissue paper, then a box full of epipens. "Oh, my God."

"Now that you've had a reaction, you're more likely to have more," Tess explained in her Dr. Sullivan voice. "You need to have one of those with you all the time. When those expire call me and I'll get you more."

"Thank you," she said quietly. "You didn't have to do this. You already saved my life."

"And I'd like to see it last a good long time," Tess told her with a smile.

Grace smiled shyly. "I'll go my best."

It wasn't until they were heading back out of the hospital when Eli asked, "Why are those damn things so expensive, anyway?"

"A few years ago the main company that makes them hiked the price up enormously," she explained. "There was outcry and people demanding some sort of regulation, but nothing much came of it. It's a necessary medicine with little street value and a limited number of clients. There's not a lot of competition to help with market stability. Similar things happened with insulin and asthma medications." They stepped out the front doors and she squinted into the sunlight. "I could go for some ice cream."

He grinned. "That sounds delicious."

"Do they have anywhere around here that does dips? Cones with chocolate shell on 'em?" 

He pulled his phone out. "I can find that."

According to three separate food blogs, the best place to find a dipped cone in Manhattan was place called Big Gay Ice Cream. So after an expensive cab ride to the East Village they were sitting at one of the little tables and Tess was gingerly sinking her teeth into something called a Salty Pimp.

Based on the noises she made immediately after, it lived up to expectations. "I need to come here every day," she informed him.

"I'm honestly usually a little scared of soft-serve. I worked in a frozen yogurt place once. You really have to make sure that machine is clean." He'd ordered it anyway—not like he could get sick.

"I used to have these at the Dairy Queen near the highway." She ducked to catch a drop with her tongue. "Whatever bacteria lives in those machines, I'm sure I've long become adapted to it."

He watched her mouth. It was kind of impossible not to. "That explains a lot about you, really."

"My questionable ice cream choices?"

"I was thinking more than you're clearly infused with and immunity to mutant Appalachian germs. That's up there with Iocane powder."

She laughed. "Eat the things I did as a kid and you develop an iron clad stomach or die trying." After another bite of her ice cream, she shook her head. "I'm still not very picky, but there's a few things I'd prefer never to choke down again."

"Would telling me about them kill my appetite?"

"Probably not." She shrugged, looking vaguely uncomfortable, like she was regretting starting the conversation. "Rabbit. Duck. Anything stale. I have a thing about stale bread and pastries."

"Oh. You should talk to Wyatt. They eat some terrifying things up in Alaska." Eli looked at her a moment. "I got a thing about store brand cereal. And boxed mac and cheese."

They shared a moment of understanding. Then she smiled a little. "You got to eat the mac _and_ the cheese?"

"Well, sometimes all I got was the dry orange powder to eat with a spoon."

"Oh. Spoons. Fancy." She said it utterly deadpan, then broke and started to giggle. Her nose scrunched up when she laughed.

"Spoons are easy to steal," he quipped.

That made her laugh harder pressing her free hand to her mouth. "Okay," she said when she'd caught her breath. "No game meat, no generic cereal, processed pasta, or old baked goods. Seems doable."

"Clearly we'll be able to find acceptable dinner somewhere in Manhattan."

"We both like steak," she offered. "Just in very different amounts."

"I think you're going to find that with pretty much any food."

She looked sympathetic. "I know it takes an insane amount of calories to keep you up and running. You must have been a nightmare as a teenager."

"I got a job at a grocery store, they'd let me raid the expired food at the end of the night. Only way we survived."

"Smart," she said with a nod. "I waitressed when I was a teenager. Got some free meals that way."

He ate the last of his ice cream, but she was still working through hers. "So how'd you end up in medicine?"

"Serendipity." She'd gotten to the cone part, at least, so there was less distracting licking. "I got a scholarship to college, ended up with a Biology class on my schedule. Turns out I was really good at it. Gave Chemistry a try the next semester and was even better at that." This with a little shrug. "When I went back the next year I sat down with some of my teachers and figured out what I needed for pre-med."

"So you're at it mostly for the science?"

She hesitated. "I mean. . . I do want to help people. If I didn't like people I'd have been going into research or surgery or something. But there is sort of a love of science. Of figuring out the puzzle or putting together the story." Setting what was left of her cone into a paper cup, she started wiping her hands off. "People would come into the ER on the worst day of their life. And sometimes they couldn't tell you what was wrong or they'd be telling you the wrong things. Sometimes they were lying. But you still have to figure out how to help them."

He grinned at her. "I don't doubt you could."

He'd kind of expected her to grin back, but she didn't, scrubbing at a stubborn bit of chocolate on the web of skin between her fingers and thumb. When she finally spoke she sounded oddly confessional. And a little angry. "I spent the first part of my life being told I couldn't. Finding something I was good at. That I was _smart_ at. It was a really big deal for me." With a little shake, she summoned up a smile. "Sorry. Old wounds. Not exactly ice cream conversation."

Eli met her eyes for a beat, not willing to let the moment go. "Why aren't you afraid of me?"

She stilled and he watched her consider the question. "You don't expect anything of me," she said finally, voice quiet. "I don't feel like I have to impress you or find the right answer or pretend I fit in whatever box you've put me in. You had every reason to give me a wide berth - skinny white girl from the rural south that I am - but you smiled at me like it didn't matter." Her cheeks pinked a little and she added, shyly, "And you have a nice voice."

"I make everybody nervous," he said. "And everybody made you nervous. And that first day. . ." He shrugged. It had been such an odd sensation.

"You seemed nice." She shrugged. "Peter said I was like Sherlock Holmes. I do see a lot and not always consciously. I've learned to listen to my gut. My gut likes you."

The grin returned. "My gut likes you, too."

This time she grinned back. "Good."

*

Mornings were always busy for Steve. Sharon helped him get the kids up and get breakfast going, but she was usually heading out to work before the rest of them had finished eating. Then he took Maggie downstairs to the Tower's daycare and the boys to school, which inevitably involved obnoxious rush hour traffic because he tended to get mobbed on the subway. 

The stuck his head in on morning training once he got back, and went up to talk to Ada to ask her a question. One he completely forgot because when he stepped through the door, she greeted him with, "Do you feel pain?"

He felt like this might be a trap. "Yes. . ."

She waved impatiently. "Come here, give me your arm."

"Why?" he asked, even as he came closer. She was almost certainly going to talk him into whatever it was anyway, but it seemed prudent to get some sort of warning.

"I'm testing a medicine auto-injector. Tess came up here a couple weeks ago, handed me an epi-pen. Ordered me to make a better and cheaper one. She's got a little Doc in her yet." She pulled out something that looked disturbingly like a power tool.

"Out of curiosity, why are we making medical devices and what are you trying to inject me with?"

"Because Tess handed me an epi-pen and ordered me to make a better cheaper one." She said it slowly, enunciating like she was afraid he'd gone deaf of senile. "And it's just saline," she added in a normal tone. "It'll hydrate you. Hydration is good, Uncle Steve."

He held out his arm, because Ada was impossible to say no to. She just wore you down. With a happy hum, she put the nozzle part of her little power tool against his forearm and pulled the trigger. There was a little "pfft" sound and a dull thump on his arm.

"Can you rate your pain?" Ada asked officiously.

"On what scale?"

"Zero to ten? Zero being no pain and ten being you would prefer I remove your arm with a rusty hacksaw before doing that again."

"I've definitely been in a more pain than an amputation would cause," he told her, just to mess with her. "And it doesn't matter if it's rusty, I can't get tetanus."

"Rusty would be duller, but it's still a moot point because I keep my tools in good order. You are standing in the way of progress, Uncle Steve. Rate your stupid pain."

"I barely felt it."

This caused a little happy dance. "Success!"

"You should probably work on its terrifying appearance, though."

She frowned and inspected it. "I was going for steam punk."

"I may be the wrong audience for that. I remember Edwardian medical implements."

"I'm in the middle of an intense auction over an Edwardian vibrator on an oddities website I frequent. I want to give it to Doc as a joke birthday gift."

Steve didn't always quite get Ada's sense of humor. "I really don't want to think about that too long."

"That's for the best," she said sagely. "Thank you for being a guinea pig. Did you need something from me?"

"No, I'm going to back away and leave you to your mad-sciencing."

She grinned. "Thanks!"

Steve shook his head, and went down to the gym. Eli wanted to spar, which was not the worst thing to do on a Monday morning. It was fun to not have to hold back.

Eli was waiting for him, warming up with a punching bag. Nat was on the other side of the big workout area, with the new doctor. The girl was going through some sort of obstacle course and, based on Nat's expression, was doing very well. She also seemed to have Eli's attention. Which was. . .interesting

"Mornin' Cap," Eli called.

"Eli." He joined him at the bags and glanced over at the women again. "Nat looks downright giddy."

"Since the thing at the restaurant she's been trying to cross train Tess for spy stuff. The obstacle course has clues and stuff in it for her to find. This is her third run through and she hasn't missed a thing." He sounded downright proud of her.

"Sounds like she's integrating well."

"Yeah. She's shy, so it's hard. But everyone likes her."

Steve shook out his shoulders and took a swing at the punching bag. "You guys are friends?"

With a shrug, Eli hit the bag back to him. "We hang out. She's warming up to living in the city so I've been trying to show her the less touristy things."

There was something odd about the way he said. It was almost defensive. And he was still watching her. Steve wasn't sure if he should be concerned about that or not.

Tess finished her course run and sat to drink water while Nat talked to her. He and Eli pushed the bag around a little longer. Steve was plenty warmed up, but he got the sense Eli was waiting for something and decided to see how it would play out.

Sure enough, Tess detoured over to the bags on her way out, pink cheeked and smiled. "Hi Cap." He nodded a hello and she looked at Eli. "Are we still good for dinner tonight?"

He grinned at her. "Assuming this guy doesn't totally kick my ass."

"Great. I convinced Doc to move the surgical mock ups to tomorrow so I'll have an appetite." She started backing for the door. "I'll see you at six, have fun punching each other."

"See you at six," Eli replied with a little wave.

When she was gone, Steve turned and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" he said, now definitely defensive.

Steve shrugged, not wanting to make the guy uncomfortable. "You guys are just friends?"

"Yeah." He gave the bag a few swift punches, sending it dancing. "I don't date white girls."

He didn't entirely know what to say to that. "No exceptions?"

"Haven't found one. Besides, dating someone on the team. . . seems like that could get complicated."

"It really does," Steve replied. "Not that that ever stops people."

Eli grinned a little. "Yeah, I guess you guys didn't have any rules about fraternizing."

"Life happens. You work it out. Dangerous and complicated and isolating as this job is? You don't make stupid, puritanic rules."

His brows went up. "Are you _encouraging_ me to date her?"

"I don't care what you do. I just don't want you to be clandestine about it. It's bad news."

That seemed to surprise him. "You're saying the problem isn't the dating it's the sneaking around."

"As long as everyone's an adult about it."

"I'm not entirely sure what that means."

"Then you probably shouldn't fish off the company pier." He inclined his head at Eli. "You ready?"

He frowned so hard it was close to a scowl, but he nodded. "Let's go."

Steve was surprised how hard Eli hit him during that fight. Interesting indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ada tells people they're "standing in the way of progress" a LOT.


	5. Chapter 5

"I thought you guys pulled your punches when you were sparring," Tess said, frowning at Eli's scuffed up knuckles. They were at her kitchen table, waiting for her chicken chili to finish simmering. The apartment smelled of spices and cornbread which seemed at odds with the modern furniture and sweeping view of the skyline. She really needed to get some stuff to decorate. She'd been here a couple months now and still felt vaguely like she was living in a hotel.

Eli shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "Sometimes it's fun to push yourself."

She lifted his hand to get a better look, running a thumb along the back of his hand. "Do you want me to wrap them up or anything?"

He cleared his throat before he said, "Okay."

Happy to feel useful, she went and fetched her first aid kit then sat across from him to clean and bandage his knuckles. "Kate asked me to go shopping with her and the girls on Saturday." Actually, it had been phrased more like an order than a question but she got the feeling that was just how Kate did things. "Said they try to do a girl's day every month or two."

"You should go," he said encouragingly.

"I was planning on it. I just wanted to make sure you didn't think they were planning on hazing me or something."

"If they do, they will be _very_ sorry," he said immediately.

The vehemence surprised her even as the sentiment made her smile. "You'll beat up my bullies for me?"

"I'm a little scared of Kate, but otherwise, yes."

She laughed. "Me too. I'm pretty sure Cassie likes me. I think Kamala likes everyone. But I can't read Kate. I feel like I could be her best friend or worst enemy and have no idea which it was."

"I've known her the better part of a decade and I still feel like that sometimes."

"That's reassuring." She taped up the last of his cuts and gave him a little pat. "All fixed."

"You take good care of me," he said quietly.

She smiled, feeling her cheeks heat, for some reason. "I try."

He cleared his throat again. "How's the chili coming?"

"Let me wash my hands and I'll check." She closed up the first aid kit and stood to do just that, trying not to notice how flushed and flustered she felt. She could feel his eyes following her. She had no idea why that suddenly made her nervous. But not in a bad way.

The chili needed a little more cream and a dash of salt, which she stirred in and let simmer as she got out the corn bread and shredded cheese to go in it. Eli got up and set the table without her having to ask and about twenty minutes later they were sitting down with their dinner. It never ceased to amaze her how comfortable she felt in his presence. Even if he did, occasionally, cause a butterfly outbreak in her stomach.

He filled his spoon with chili and balanced a piece of cornbread on top of it. "You are a very good cook."

She grinned. "Thank you. I'm glad you like it." She smeared butter on her piece of bread. "I like cooking for you. I learned how to cook feeding a family of seven. I've never exactly learned how to scale down."

He laughed. "My poor mother still cooks like she's supplying a church potluck all by herself."

"It's a hard habit to break." She waited for him to eat a few more bites. "So that actually reminds me of something I'd been wanting to ask you." He looked at her expectantly and she blew out a breath, not sure why this made her nervous. "Would it be okay if I went to your church with you sometime?"

Eli blinked, surprise on his face. "Sure. Of course. Might not be what you're used to—they kinda rowdy."

"Rowdy sounds great," she assured him. "I haven't been in a long time. My mama used to take us every Sunday, but when I was in school and working -" She shrugged. "Figured the Lord would prefer I not starve or fail. But I don't have to work weekends any more and. . . I'd like to go back. I know I could find my own but you like yours enough to go every week, seemed a nice place to start."

"People are going to stare," he said. "You okay with that?"

"I can handle it," she said with more confidence than she felt. "But if you think people would feel I was. . . invading their space then I can find somewhere else to go."

"A church that doesn't welcome people is a shitty church. Even white people."

She smiled at that. "Would having a hat help?" she asked, thinking of the church ladies she'd served at the diner. They'd called her "sweetie" and "hon" and wore extravagant hats proudly.

He chuckled. "No, no. Dress normal."

"I will dress church appropriate," she assured him.

Eli grinned. "Bring your singing voice."

That hadn't even occurred to her, but looking at the grin she couldn't possibly be nervous. "I'll blow the doors off."

He ate some more chili. "Ada stabbed me with your injector the other day."

Doc had told her, when Tess had gone to her with her Epi-pen problems, to take it to Ada. She had no idea when she did she'd be unleashing a mad scientist. "Pain free?"

"Yes, and it's looking less like a torture device from a sci-fi movie."

"That's a relief. Next she can make them cheap to make and we'll be getting somewhere."

"She'll get there. Ada's a genius."

"I'm amazed at how much she's already done," she admitted. "Her mind must be going non stop."

"Couple years ago I got to go to Wakanda, and met Wanda Maximoff. She was telling us what it's like to read minds. Some really smart people—Ada included—are almost impossible to read because of how fast they think. It just sounds like a hum."

"That's fascinating." She was getting full, so she leaned back in her chair to nibble her cornbread. "Doc said I might go there sometime, maybe in the summer. To see some of their equipment. Most of it's made its way over here, but I get the feeling going to Wakanda is some sort of rite of passage for being on the team or something."

"I suppose it is. They like you to have met the entire original team."

Privately, she kind of hoped to skip it, but it was far enough in the future stressing about it seemed counterproductive. "I admit, the idea of meeting someone who can literally read my mind is intimidating."

"She won't do it unless you give her permission. Though apparently I think loud."

"To make up for how quiet you are otherwise?" she teased.

"Everybody complains about that," he said. "I think I talk plenty."

"You talk when necessary. I think we just have a lot of teammates who talk to fill the silence."

"Silence isn't always bad. The best thing is somebody you can be quiet with."

She thought about the long periods of silence they shared while cooking or reading or training and smiled. "I couldn't agree more."

Saturday she went downstairs at eleven to meet the rest of the girls for brunch and shopping. She was still vaguely nervous about it, but it was mostly drowned out by excitement. It had been a very long time since she'd had a group of girlfriends to go do stuff with. She reminded herself Kate wouldn't have invited her if she couldn't at least tolerate her.

Tess was the last to arrive, to enthusiastic greetings from Kamala and Cassie. Kate smiled and hustled them out to the waiting car. "Sorry," she said when they were moving. "Not trying to be in leader-mode. We just have reservations."

"Some of that's just your personality," Kamala said.

"Sometimes you need herding," Kate retorted.

"I wish I could argue with that, but I can't."

"So does anyone have any pressing shopping needs?" Cassie asked.

"Shoes," Kate said immediately.

Cassie turned to her. "How can you _possibly_ need more shoes?"

"There are never enough shoes."

"I could use a dress," Tess offered.

They all looked at her. "Like a date dress?" Cassie asked.

She really could have phrased that differently. "No, kind of the opposite. More like a church dress."

Cassie blinked. "I don't go to church."

"Neither do I," Kate said.

"Because you are godless heathens," Kamala told them solemnly. "Though I also don't know what Christians wear to church," she admitted.

Tess grinned. "I just need something relatively modest but still cool. A sun dress with sleeves or something."

"This line of work seems to appeal to or foster atheists and agnostics," Kate said. "Not really sure why that is, but it's in higher proportions than the rest of the populace. Only one of the boys that isn't is Eli, as far as I can tell."

"Yes, he's taking me to his church since I don't know any around here." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she knew it had been a mistake. All three heads turned towards her, eyebrows up. Their expressions were so identical you could tell they'd been friends a for a lot of years.

"Eli is taking you to church?" Cassie said.

"As friends." Nope, too defensive, probably made it worse.

Kamala was grinning. "His mom goes to church with him. You're gonna meet his mom!"

Tess had not considered that. "He seemed to think it would be fine."

"Maybe because he _wants_ you to meet his mom." That was Cassie.

She was blushing. They'd just started and they had her blushing. "It's really not like that. Eli's very sweet, but we're just friends." She paused and added cautiously, "I get the impression I'm not his. . . type."

The three of them shrugged. Kate said, "I'm not sure he's ever had a girlfriend in the entire time I've know him. Though he seems to have plenty of company. Going to a bar with him is impossible."

There was no reason that should make a little pit form in her stomach. "I imagine you all get attention in that kind of setting. You are Avengers."

"Yeah," said Cassie slowly. "But not like Eli. Especially if we go somewhere in Harlem. He's like, folk hero famous. 'Cause of his great grand-dad. Everyone knows the Bradleys."

"Nate gets a lot of women," Kate confirmed. "And Peter has lady problems up the wazoo. But Eli doesn't even have to flirt. They just sort of. . . materialize."

"Honestly," Kamala said, "I cannot blame them."

Neither could Tess, but admitting that out loud wasn't going to help her case at all.

The restaurant was a nice, upscale brunch place with a private room in the back they appeared to have rented out. "Conversation gets a little personal," Kamala explained. "We fear tabloids overhearing."

"Who pays for the room?" Tess asked, sinking into a very comfortable chair.

"It goes on the company card," Kate said. "The Grownups are big on team bonding. The boys go do stuff too. And we all go together, like that dinner. Or going to clubs and bars."

"It's important the personalities all mix well," Cassie said. "Though, ironically, when the government originally put us together, they didn't want us to bond. At all."

Kamala shook her head. "Didn't really work out. We were young and some of us were dealing with new powers and confused. It was natural to attach to each other."

"There must have been a lot of hormones flowing," Tess said. "Did any of you-"

"No." The three of them said it in unison, all with equal levels of vehemence.

"Peter and Nate are pretty much in the 'brother' category now," Kamala told her with a shudder.

Kate was more succinct. "I don't shit where I eat."

"The boys were older, too," Cassie said. "Different dynamic. The difference between 16 and 19 is bigger than 25 and 30."

Tess was pretty sure sixteen year old her would have been all over nineteen year old Eli. But, again, that was not a shareable thought. "Well, I admire your restraint."

"It's for the best. Fresh genetics and all," Kate said. 

Kamala sighed. "My parents really want me to find a husband. Because being a superhero is just hobby."

"Right, you're just dabbling," Cassie said with a snort.

"They mean well. I know they do. But it is obnoxious having the same conversation over and over again."

"I can try to have my parents talk to them," Kate offered. "They don't give a damn about my marriage potential."

"It's a cultural thing. I'm 24, that's practically menopause. They see a life with no grandchildren, and me becoming a crazy cat lady."

"I'm sorry," Tess said. "No one on the horizon?"

She shook her head. "It's surprisingly hard to get an actual boyfriend when you're a superhero."

"There isn't even a spot for that in the career menu on Match.com," Cassie confirmed.

"Doc didn't warn you about that part, did she?" Kate asked Tess.

"I admit we didn't discuss relationship potential." They had discussed birth control, which had been slightly awkward. But the end result was she no longer had to pay out of pocket for it, which had made it worth it.

"Casual sex is very easy to get," Cassie said. "Relationships are very hard."

Tess shrugged. "The later is nice but the former will certainly do."

There were more surprised faces. "I would not have expected that," Kate said finally.

"Orgasms are very healthy," Tess said, trying not to be offended. "Hormones, blood flow, pain relief. I prefer to have mine with an eager partner."

Another moment of silence, then Cassie asked, "How many people have you had sex with?"

"What do you define as sex?"

She blinked. "Insertion?"

Tess did a fast mental count. "Twenty-seven."

"When you first came here you looked afraid of your shadow," Kate said. "So I just kind of assumed. . ."

"At the risk of bragging, I was Homecoming Queen and Miss Coal Miner's Daughter two years running. The boys were lining up around the block to take me out and I was smart enough to buy condoms at the WalMart two towns over. Finding sex has never required effort or been hard on my confidence." She reached for her glass of ice water. "I've been told I'm pretty since I was four years old. It's everything else I'm uncertain about."

"My number is seventeen," Cassie said. "If that helps." Tess obligingly reached over and fist bumped her.

"Three and a half," Kate offered, sipping her own water.

Kamala cleared her throat. "No comment."

That didn't surprise Tess, that a woman who did her superheroing in a hijab was not sleeping around. She'd have pegged Kate differently, though. She really should know better than to make assumptions.

"Well," Cassie said brightly. "Now that that's out of the way." She raised her glass. "To girl power."

*

Eli texted Tess to meet him in the lobby. He thought about just knocking on her door, but it felt a little. . . date-like. It was moot, anyway. They met in the elevator.

She was in a very pretty dress, grey and blue flowers with fluttery sleeves and a skirt that hit below her knee. Her shoes were simple flats and she'd braided her hair, leaving tendrils loose around her face. It was a modest, church appropriate outfit and he should _not_ have to put this much effort into not staring at her legs.

"I had a great time with the girls yesterday," she offered after a moment of silence.

"I've always wondered what they do at those things."

"I'm forbidden to tell you," she told him solemnly. "I took the oath."

He laughed. "And that only makes me wonder more."

She shrugged as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out. "You know, a little shopping, brunch, graphic sex talk. Basic girl stuff."

Well that made him think things he shouldn't be thinking on the way to church. "I certainly don't want to hear that stuff about the rest of them."

"I don't know that I wanted to either, but I did. I know things now, Eli. Things I can never un-know."

Outside he hailed them a cab. "I'm glad you guys are getting along."

"It's nice to have girlfriends again." She smiled and it was fond and a little sad. "I've missed it."

"They're good people. And nobody understands us like we understand each other."

"That seems to be the collective sentiment." He held the cab door open for her to slip in first, then followed, giving the cabbie the address. "They were surprised I was going to church with you," she said once they were moving. "Though at least some of that seemed to be at finding another religious person in the group."

"Yeah. They think I'm weird."

She reached over and patted his hand. "We can be weird together."

Without even thinking about it, he turned his hand over to squeeze hers. It seemed to startle her, but she didn't pull her hand back. Just curled her fingers lightly around his.

They rode in silence for a few blocks, linked hands sitting between them on the seat. Finally she asked, "Did you warn your mama you were bringing me?"

He'd told his mother that he was bringing one of the Avengers with him. He didn't provide any more detail, for reasons he didn't want to examine too closely. "I did give her a heads up."

She nodded and looked out the window for a while. "What does she think of you being on the team?”

“She’s proud of me,” he said. “She worries, I know. She really, really didn’t like it in the early days, but now it’s different.”

She looked over at him. "What changed?”

Eli sighed. “When I was 18 I joined the army. My mother was not happy. Given our family history with the military, I can’t entirely blame her. She didn’t want them to figure out who I was. I naively insisted I’d hide how strong I was.” He laughed a little. The brass had figured out he was Isaiah Bradley’s grandson by the second week of Basic.

It was Tess's turn to squeeze his hand. "She felt better once the Grownups got involved?”

“Well, by then it was voluntary. It was one of the first rules Sharon Rogers insisted they add. None of us could be ordered or coerced to be Avengers. Before that I didn’t really have a say. It made my entire family upset, but I was literally stuck under penalty of jail.”

"I'm sorry. That sounds awful.”

“It was a rough couple of years. They had Kate on the threat of jail, too. Though that was an actual criminal thing, mine would have been a court martial.”

He could see that information surprised her, but she didn't ask. Kate had a lot more demons than you'd think to look at her. Most of which he wasn't comfortable talking about. "But you all stuck around. When they made it volunteer?”

“Six years ago.” The army had just told him he was being put on Stop Loss, despite him desperately wanting out.

"I was just starting med school," she said with a smile.

"And I didn't even make it to college."

"Yet here we are. Good friends and team mates. Life takes strange turns."

He grinned at her. "Strange isn't bad. God knows the rest of us are proof of that."

The taxi dropped them off in front of the church - or as close as the driver could get, given the other cars. Eli handed over some cash while Tess fidgeted on the curb. "That is a lot of people," she commented as they started for the doors.

"I'll protect you," he told her. It was meant as a joke, but people did move out of his way when he walked in crowds. He didn't try to do it, it just happened. She ended up walking a little behind him to take best advantage of his wake. It was just instinct to take her hand again so they didn't get separated.

People were already starting to stare.

"Elijah, there you are!" He'd really been hoping to get inside before his mother found him.

Tess's hand tightened on his, but he was caught up in hugging his mother before he could offer any comfort.

Sarah Bradley was fine-boned and statuesque. She could light up a room with her grin or freeze you with a glare. Eli remembered being the target of both quite often as a kid. After hugging him, she leaned back to study his face, as if he might have changed since he'd seen her last week at church.

"You look good," she pronounced finally. "Where's this friend you were going to bring?"

"Possibly running for her life," he joked, and turned to look for Tess.

While he was distracted she had apparently been waylaid by another parishioner a few years younger than his mother. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but they appeared to be comparing shoes. Eli blinked. "Or. . .making friends."

He cleared his throat and Tess looked up. "Oh! Sorry." She and the older lady said a few more words, then Tess received a very maternal hand pat before rejoining Eli. "Mrs. Haley asked where I got my shoes. Her daughter has problems with her ankle and needs to wear flats. I gave her some brands to try out."

"Tess Sullivan," he said, then gestured to his mother. "Sarah Bradley."

She held out her hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Ms. Bradley. Eli's told me a lot about you."

"He never tells me enough about his friends," she replied, reaching to take Tess's hand in both of hers. "It's lovely to meet you, too."

Tess smiled brilliantly."I'm happy to tell you whatever you like in an effort to make you like me.”

His mother let out a laugh. “I like you already.” She tucked Tess's hand into the crook of her elbow and started walking her to the doors, leaving Eli to trail behind them.

Which he did, because he did not interrupt his Mama, particularly in public. He wondered if he should have warned Tess better.

They passed a bunch of neighbors and family friends on the way to their seats. And Mama said hello to every single one of them. She introduced Tess as "Eli's friend" which prompted a lot of exclamation and significant looks back at him. He could see Tess's shoulders starting to tighten as the crowd got denser and denser. When they finally found a place to sit she sighed in relief.

He touched the back of her hand. “You okay?”

She nodded, but she turned her hand over to hold his. "That was a lot of people. I hope there's not a quiz later.”

“I’m sorry, I should have done more warning.”

"No, no. It would have just made me more nervous. At least this way I didn't have time to think about it too much." She grinned and squeezed his hand, leaning closer to whisper, "And your mom likes me!”

She was really, really adorable right then. “You’re very likable.”

Her cheeks pinked and she looked momentarily flustered. "Well. Thank you."

On this other side, his mother patted his leg encouragingly. She was absolutely reading this the wrong way, but he felt like if he protested, Tess would hear it and it might upset her. Not like his mother would believe him. 

Of course, that could be because this _wasn’t_ just a friend thing. 

Seemed like that might be a useful thing to pray about, and he was in the right place to do it.

He did find himself watching her throughout the service, though. She listened with rapt attention to the sermon, jumping a few times when people responded particularly loudly. It was only the first few times and after a while she seemed to get used to it, smiling. The choir was in fine form and Tess seemed to know every song, singing along. Standing next to her, he could pick her voice out of the crowd. He thought again how she seemed to be at her calmest and happiest when she was singing.

She was really good at it, too. He could probably listen to her voice all day. During the service's greeting, it seemed like half the congregation wanted to sidle over and use it as an excuse to get a good look at her. He was pretty well known and she was pretty obvious, so he wasn't surprised. And he got a hug out of the ritual. Lifted her clear off her feet.

It made her squeak and she was blushing again when we put her down. The look his mother gave him indicated she was absolutely not going to believe any protests about them being just friends.

He was definitely going to hear about it later, but he'd worry about that when the time came. She listened attentively to the exceedingly long sermon, which thankfully didn't seem particularly addressed to him. Sometimes they literately were-- Rev. Williams was very aware he had an Avenger in his congregation and sometimes tried to cast some influence. Or at least remind Eli where his head should be. It vacillated between helpful and patronizing, depending on the topic.

The closing song was even more lively than the opening one and once again Tess seemed to know it. Then started to slow crawl to leave.

His mother tugged his arm as they waited. "Are you two coming to the social?"

Eli hesitated. "I don't know if--"

"There's a social?" Tess piped up from the other side. He felt her smack his arm. "You didn't tell me there was a social, I'd've brought something." Church seemed to have brought the South out in her voice. There had to be some sort of psychological reason. Lani would know.

He chuckled. "Apparently, yes."

The answer made his mother smile, at least. He did have the vague sense of being a man at the bottom of a pit utterly unable to stop digging. But Tess, bizarrely, also looked excited at the prospect of a social, so he could muscle through a little longer.

"You're going to be very popular," he told her.

Generally, he avoided the social. He tended to draw a crowd and while he made an effort to be nice to fans he met on the street or whatnot, the sheer number of people who cornered him at the socials tended to be overwhelming.

Today, however, Tess was getting the swarm, not him. His mother had taken over introduction duties and parked herself at Tess's side as people started to come up. Which at least gave Eli a chance to get some food. If they were going to make a habit of this he should probably let Tess bring something. If only to off-set the amount he ate.

He was talking to a couple of guys he'd grown up with about the local sports teams when his mother found him, conspicuously alone. "Don't worry," she said before he could ask. "Ms. Ellie found out she was a doctor and has been bending her ear about all her aches and pains for ten minutes now. Tess might be bored out of her skull, but no one is gonna dare interrupt."

He rubbed his forehead. "She worked in a ER, she's probably used to hypochondriacs."

"She assured me she was fine." Mama gave him an assessing look. "She's a very sweet girl."

He regarded her a moment. "But?"

"Are you serious about her?"

That was not what he expected. "Mama. We work together."

She nodded and looked oddly relieved. "Ah. That's the weird vibe I was getting. I was starting to get nervous you were going to tell me she was pregnant or something."

"We're not-- She asked to come to church. We're friends."

His mother didn't look like she believed him at all. But she held up her hands. "All right. All right. Friends it is." She smiled and patted his arm. "If your mother's opinion on your friends counts at all, I like her. You should bring her by for supper sometime."

Eli smiled. "She'd probably love that."

"Good."

She left him be, then, going off to chat with some of the other ladies. Tess found him soon after, looking oddly rumpled and very tired. "Hi. I'm sorry. Would you mind leaving soon? I think I'm getting a little people-d out."

"I'm still in awe you came at all, let alone lasted this long. We can go now."

"It was fun," she said. "I was nervous but everyone's been very sweet. Most of them want to know about you, though."

He frowned, trying not to get his hackles up. "What were they asking?"

She looked uncertain. "How you were doing. What it was like being on a team with you. A couple of the women my age seemed to assume we were sleeping together and that for some reason I would want to discuss personal details of that with strangers."

He felt his face flush. "Ah. Sorry about that. People have no damn manners."

"It was not the sort of question I expected immediately after church service, I'll say that."

"Sorry," he repeated, because what else could be say?

She shook her head. "No, no, it's not your fault. For the most part, everyone was very welcoming." She smiled shyly. "I'd like to come again, if it's all right with you."

He grinned at her. "Well, I'm here every Sunday."

Her smile widened. "All right then."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the posting gap, I had a nasty respiratory thing and was pretty useless for a week or so.

For the first time in more than a decade Tess spent the summer happy and relaxed instead of quietly dreading the fall and all the bills that would be due.

Not to say she was idle. She worked with Doc, learning all the ins and out of the team's medical needs. She paid off several student loans and watched her credit stabilize. She spent a couple Friday evenings in Kate's apartment with the girls, watching movies and painting toe nails. Once they discovered how steady her hands were, she was the preferred manicurist.

Sundays she went with Eli to church. Sometimes they stayed for the social - she brought her Memaw's famous potato salad and never had leftovers. Other times they came back to the Tower for brunch or went out to a restaurant. He helped her decorate her apartment. For the first time in her adult life she didn't have to move with the change of the seasons. So she got pictures for the walls and knick knacks for her shelves. There was an indoor flea market in the city she liked to check out. Eli would gamely come along. He didn't have much opinion on decor, but he sure could clear a path in a crowd and she got the sense having him helped her haggling.

At times it felt very surreal, to have a home and friends.

And friends was all that she and Eli were. Though, if she was being honest with herself, the vibe between them was getting less and less platonic as the weeks went on. Neither of them had mentioned it to the other, or done anything about it. But she'd noticed they held hands more often and when he was helping her in the kitchen she had no problem putting a hand on his back as she walked by, or nudging him with a hip when she needed him to move over. Sometimes when they were watching TV - even if they were in a group - he would put an arm behind her or she would rest her legs in his lap. Inevitably, one of them would notice and break contact, suddenly needing a drink or trip to the bathroom. It was frustrating and nerve wracking and almost certainly coming to a head of some sort, though she had no idea how to address it without risking utter embarrassment.

At the end of September, when she would normally be carefully balancing her budget and hoping whatever diner or store she was working at didn't dock her hours, she instead found herself buying fruit at a farmers market and window shopping in art galleries, wondering if she could afford a real painting to go on her wall, instead of a print. A heat wave hit the city, the kind her Granddad would have called an indian summer and claimed meant an especially cold winter. It got hotter than it had in the proper summer and Tess buried her flannels and long sleeves to dig out her daisy dukes and tank tops again.

Thursday night was her and Eli's standing dinner date. Not that either of them used the 'D' word for it. Tess braved the afternoon heat to shop for supplies and returned home to a. . . warm apartment.

"FRIDAY?" she asked, putting her food away. "Why isn't it arctic in here?" The Tower had an extremely efficient HVAC system. This was the first time she could recall being even remotely uncomfortable.

"We're having some issues with the thermostat," the AI responded. "Ms. Ada and several professionals are working on it."

Apparently, she'd be cooking dinner in daisy dukes.

A couple of minutes later, Eli came over—on Thursdays FRIDAY just let him in without a notification. “Aw, damn, I was really hoping it would be cold in here.”

"I assumed it was building wide," she called back. "I'm glad I didn't plan anything that requires using the stove excessively."

"What are you making?" He asked, coming into the kitchen.

"Ham and scalloped potatoes." She looked up from her cheese grating. "The ham's almost done, just gotta get the potatoes in."

"Having the oven on ain't helping your heat problem," he observed.

She arched a brow. "If you don't _want_ to eat. . ."

"I always want to eat. I just may need to take my shirt off to do it."

Turning back to her cheese, she told herself her cheeks were warm from the oven. "You be nice or I won't share my ice cream pie with you."

"For that I'll go get a sweatshirt if you want."

"That won't be necessary. But you can peel some potatoes for me."

Eli saluted. "Yes, ma'am."

He knew which drawer her peelers were in and got himself set up at the other end of the counter from her. For a while, they worked in companionable silence. She let him use the mandolin on the potatoes because she didn't have healing powers and pretty soon they were bubbling away in the oven.

"We have half an hour to kill," she told him. "You want to complain about the weather some more?"

"We need a porch to sit on so we can fan ourselves."

The mental image of that made her smile and feel nostalgic. "With a porch swing. And some mint juleps."

He wandered over to sit on the couch. She felt his eyes follow her as she joined him. It wasn't casual, he was definitely staring. She carefully arranged her legs so she wasn't touching him with them, suddenly aware of how much skin was showing. "Of course, in my family it'd be more likely moonshine than julep."

"I have never had moonshine."

"I had it at prom. My mama used to make a blend that tasted like apple pie.”

He turned a little toward her. “I really assumed all moonshine tasted terrible.”

"If you don't know that you're doing it can. But that's true of people home brewing beer and stuff too. Moonshine gets a bad rap 'cause of where it comes from, but it's been a tradition in the rural south for generations. Mama is supposedly a great-great niece of one of the most notorious moonshiners in Harlan. The apple pie version is her recipe.”

“Do you have some stashed somewhere in this apartment?”

She hesitated a moment, then stood. "Yes, but it's not Mama's. I made it a couple years ago with some roommates." She headed into the kitchen and dug the jar out of the cupboard she'd stashed it in. "I supposed if I wanted to be really popular I could have Ada help me rig up a new still," she said as she brought it back to him.

“You may want to wait for her to turn 18 before you do that,” he replied.

Tess unscrewed the cap and gave the 'shine a sniff before handing it over. "Sometimes I forget how young she is.”

“Right after we hired Wyatt—maybe his second or third day here—he asks ‘who’s the hot chick in the lab?’ After an exchange of glances, Kate says, ‘Bruce Banner’s seventeen year old daughter. Good luck with that.’ He just about crawled the wall.” He took a swig from the bottle. “This is pretty good.”

"I suppose Ada does have the worst case of Daddy on the porch with a shotgun in history." She held her hand out and he gave her the jar so that she could take a drink. "Mmm. Not quite how Mama made it, but I'm proud of it.”

Eli watched her. “You know I can’t get drunk? It’s pretty tragic.”

"I did know that. I've read your medical files." She took another sip and offered him the jar. "It is tragic. Though Doc said there's some kind of Asgardian booze that works?”

“I’ve heard of it, but never had it.” He nudged her with his knee. “What else is in my medical files.” 

She tilted her head, trying to remember. "Height, weight. Vital statistics. MRI and X-rays. Stress test results." She poked him with a foot. "Can you really lift a ton?”

He nodded and laughed. “And I could lift you with probably a couple of fingers.”

"I think most people in this building can lift me pretty easy.”

“Most of them couldn’t also lift the couch. The biggest problem for me is usually balance. Big things, relative to the surface area of the lift, are surprisingly hard to not drop. Not weight, just the laws of physics.”

"You know, that makes sense. Half the time when I'm carrying something it's not about weight, just awkwardness of trying the hold it." She leaned an elbow on the back of the couch and propped her head on it. "What's the heaviest thing you've lifted?”

He looked away. “Whatever it says in my medical charts. They ran tests—made me lift heavier and heavier weight until I couldn’t. Though I’m pretty sure I could lift more, I was just exhausted and tired of being yelled at.”

Tess winced. She really hadn't intended to poke a bad memory. Shifting a little, she flatted her hand on his back. "I'm sorry. We can talk about something else.”

He turned back again, towards her. “You and me, we can talk about anything.”

"I know." She left her hand where it was. "But I try to respect the things you don't want to talk about and I appreciate that you seem to do the same. I don't ask you about working for the government and you don't ask me about my family.”

“It is part of us, though. The shit that happened to us. And I just think. . . we have different rules.”

She cleared her throat, feeling an odd little flutter of nerves in her stomach. "I guess we do.”

Behind them, the oven beeped.

Never had she been so unhappy to have dinner ready. With a pat on his shoulder, she stood. "Potatoes are done.” 

She could actually hear him sigh. She wasn’t sure what to make of that. “Right. At least the oven will be off.”

"I really don't know how much that'll help the heat in here," she said, realizing after it was out that there was definitely a couple ways to take that.

Eli leaned on the counter. “Did you read the part in my file about my body temp being like 3 degrees higher than yours?”

"I had forgotten about that," she confessed, bending to get the potatoes out of the oven. "Though I can't help but that that's handy in the winter.”

“Yes, if the HVAC breaks in the winter, you can come over and use me as a personal space heater.”

She paused a moment, setting the hot dish on the counter. She'd never lived anywhere she could set things straight from the oven onto the counter and it was still a silly, novel things she enjoyed. The action gave her a moment to think about what he'd said and about the heaviness that had seemed to grow between them recently. She'd told the girls she'd never been nervous about men and sex. If there was one thing in the world she was sure of it was that she was pretty. If there was a second thing it was that, despite his protests when he thought she wasn't looking, Eli thought so too.

So when she answered him, she put a little heat in her tone. "That sounds like fun.”

She could almost feel how still he was, and he wasn’t a fidgety person to begin with. “Winter’s a long way off,” he said quietly.

Meeting his gaze with all the confidence she could muster, she said, "I'm sure we can think of a way to pass the time.”

He took a step closer to her. Not too close—he was endlessly cautious about how intimidating he was. Even though he didn’t need to be with her. “Ain’t no way back over that line.”

"I'm aware." She took her own step forward, meeting him in the middle of her kitchen. "Ain't going away by ignoring it, neither.”

He reached up like he might touch her, but didn’t. “I don’t want it to go away.”

With another little flutter of nerves - and the vague sense she was jumping off a cliff - she reached up and caught his hand, bringing it to her cheek. "Sounds like we're crossing that line.”

Eli closed his eyes, and let out a breath that shuddered a little bit. Then he opened them again, and bent down to kiss her.

It was a good kiss. She'd been a little afraid he'd be too gentle and delicate with her. But there was no hesitancy in this. Just heat and built up anticipation. Tess groaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, going up on tiptoe as she kissed him back. He lifted her, propping her right up on the counter so he could kiss her better. His hands lingered at her waist, one finger stroking the skin in the gap between her shorts and shirt.

It made her shudder, that simple touch. He really was noticeably hotter than her, like he was feverish. His fingers seemed to sear her and she found she wanted to feel it everywhere. So when they broke for air she leaned back a little and tugged her tank top off.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” he breathed, his voice almost reverent.

For the longest time, she hadn't thought of that as a compliment. But the way he was looking at her - in that moment she felt like the most beautiful woman in the world. She caught a fistful of his shirt and tugged him in to kiss him again. He made a growling noise and cupped her face in his hands, holding her so he could kiss her better.

The sound rumbled through her, right down to her core. God, she did love that voice of his. She opened her mouth to him, letting the kiss get rather explicit. Her hands tangled in his shirt, tugging it up so she could touch skin. He broke the kiss and lifted his arms so she could pull it off. He probably could have yanked it off himself faster, but there was something very comfortable and intimate about undressing your lover.

He really was lovely. She'd seen him shirtless before. The boys seemed incapable of working out with their shirts on in the summer. But now she got to touch him, flattening her palms on his chest and running them down to trace the lines of his muscles. She'd been good at anatomy, could probably recite them all. She'd seen a lot of naked and half naked men and none of them had looked as perfect as he did.

"You are also gorgeous," she told him, voice hoarse.

He grinned at her. "I should hope you think so."

Trailing her hands back up and down his arms she admitted, "You could look a whole lot worse and I'd still be attracted to that voice of yours."

He kissed her again. "I think you'd be disappointed if all I did was talk."

"Mmm." She got lost in kissing him for a moment. "I can think of better uses for your mouth," she murmured tugging his lower lip with her teeth.

He bent his head to kiss her neck. "Are we abandoning dinner?"

She stroked his hair, tilting her head to give him access. "Ham is perfectly good cold."

He unhooked her bra. "Birth control?"

"I have an implant," she said, lowering her arms so he could slide the bra off.

She expected him to toss her bra, but he folded it and set it gently on the counter. "Hormonal or IUD?" he asked. This was beginning to sound amusingly like a checklist. Eli liked checklists.

"IUD with hormones. I was on the pill before, but when I started here I switched."

He considered that a second, then nodded. She had never, in all her years, seen a man that concerned about birth control. Like he heard her thoughts, he said. "I have a hereditary terminal genetic disorder, effectively. I have to be careful."

"I understand." She rubbed his arm, then tangled her fingers with his. "We can use to condoms if it will put your mind at ease. I'm all for two forms of birth control."

He lifted their hands to kiss the inside of her wrist. "It's mathematically unnecessary and not worth running across the hall."

"Sounds like we've reached an accord." She rubbed her foot on his leg. "Shall we commence the fornicating?"

"Mmm," he replied, wrapping his arm around her waist and lifting her off the counter. "But not where we eat."

She hooked her legs around his waist as he carried her out of the kitchen. "Yes. There's some things I don't want on my counters."

He only needed one arm to hold her, so he stroked the other hand down her ass and thigh. "These shorts were killing me," he told her.

The touch made her shiver, anticipation tightening her skin. "Oh really?"

"I'm trying to make conversation and all I can think about is touching you."

"You hid it really well," she assured him, cupping the back of his neck to kiss him again. He kicked the door to her bedroom open and it bounced against the wall. Any other place she'd have been worried but all the Avenger apartments were designed to withstand the Hulk living there. An enthusiastic super soldier shouldn't be a problem at all.

"I hide a lot of things," he said as he set her down beside the bed. The confession sounded more lonely than devious.

She looked up at him, holding his arms. "We have different rules," she reminded him quietly.

That got her a genuine smile, and a kiss full of tenderness. She swayed into him and when she lifted his head she asked, "Do you want to take them off? Or should I?"

"I might rip them. And watching you shimmy out of them would be hot."

Her cheek heated at that and she felt the flush all the way down her chest. Stepping back so he could get a good view, she snapped open the first button, then the next, all the way down until her fly gaped open. She hooked her thumbs into the waistband, making sure to get her underwear too as she wiggled her hips and tugged the shorts down.

Once past her hips the dropped to the ground and she stepped out of them, leaving her naked. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, watching her like he wanted to devour her. "Yeah."

She reached out and gave his waistband a little tug. "Your turn."

He unzipped his shorts. "I'm not going to shimmy," he told her.

She grinned. "That's fine. Probably wouldn't be as hot as mine."

He leaned in to kiss her again as he pushed them down. "Probably."

Tess heard the soft sound of the fabric hitting the floor. Then he slid an arm around her to tug her close and she felt the long, hard length of him press into her stomach. For a few breaths all she could think about was the feel and weight of it. She arched, deliberately rubbing herself against him. Then she slipped a hand between them to cup it around him and stroke.

"Fuck," he growled at her, his hands on her ass.

Nothing like an enthusiastic partner to wind up. She grazed her thumb across the head, finding moisture. "That is the eventual goal," she murmured, kissing his throat and nuzzling at the little notch of his collar bone.

He made a noise of agreement, and then lifted her again. He put one knee on the bed and set her down on it gently. She managed to keep a hand on his erection as he did it. Now as she stroked him she could watch all the little reactions. The shudder in his muscles, the way his lids fluttered when she squeezed a little harder.

Tess loved sex. Loved figuring out a lover's body, finding how they liked to be touched, all the secret spots that brought pleasure. All the different ways they could fit together.

Stretching up, she pressed a kiss to his chest. "I could taste you. . ."

Eli cupped one of her breasts in his hand, thumb running over the nipple and making it tighten. "You make it sound like I might protest," he said with a grin.

"Well I can't exactly shove you around," she teased. "You gotta cooperate with my ideas."

"You can shove me all you want," he replied, but he did roll over onto his back for her.

She grinned and turned so she could lay next to him, head at his hips. One of his hands curled around her thigh and she cuddled a little closer so he could reach her better. He was already hard, cock curving up towards his stomach.

Wrapped a hand at his base, she leaned close and dragged her tongue along his length, tasting him. His groan rumbled in his chest and into her causing a rush of moisture between her legs. She made her own quiet noise of pleasure and wrapped her lips around the head of his cock, sucking.

She felt his fingers slide slowly up her thigh and over her sex. It was a casual, distracted touch, but it felt good just the same. His other hand plunged into her hair, tugging on it just a little. She was pretty sure that was encouragement to get on with it, which made her smile a little. She licked again, getting him wet, before sliding him into her mouth.

Bracing her arms on his hips and thighs, she was able to get enough leverage to move on him, up and down. One hand curled around the base of him and moved in counterpoint. The hand in her hair tightened, bordering on pain, and that little sign of his control breaking urged her on. His fingertips pressed against her clit just the right way, making her almost lose her rhythm. 

She moaned, taking him deep so he'd feel the vibrations. She kept moving on him, rocking her hips as he kept teasing her clit. When he sank two fingers into her she had to release him and gasp, muscles clenching around him.

"See, two of us can play that," he said, his voice sounding hoarse.

Well, that sounded almost like a challenge. She sucked him again but wasn't able to find her old rhythm again. His fingers moved in her, fucking her as well as any man ever had. She kept having to lift her head and moan or whimper. She was already wound up from what she'd been doing to him, to the anticipation of sex with someone she'd been thinking and fantasizing about for months. Eventually she resorted to dropping kisses on his shaft, his hips, the hard muscles in his stomach as she got close to her edge. "If- if you keep that up." She kissed his thigh, nuzzling the skin. "You'll make me - I'll-"

"Come? Kinda the point." But he pulled his hand away, and smacked her on the ass. "Swing a leg over."

She wasn't entirely sure her legs were working, but she managed to summon up the will and got herself up. Once she was straddling him, she took a moment to appreciate the beautiful man spread out beneath her. Then she went up high on her knees and set the broad head of him at her entrance.

He was big, but she was as wet as she'd ever been and his fingers had done a little stretching. Still, it was slower going than she would have like and she had to rock back up and then down again a few times. By the time she'd sunk fully onto him she was panting, shivering with the feel of him filling her.

"You okay?" he asked, strain evident in his voice—but he was very still.

"Uh-huh." It came out a bit like a whimper. "It's been a little while for me. You feel good though." As if to prove it, she rocked on him experimentally. It sent heat through her and she clenched unconsciously. He made a sound she could _feel_ and tipped his head back, fingers digging into her thighs.

Oh, this wasn't going to take long. She sort of lamented it, but she was sure there were many more nights like this in her future. So she rocked on him in earnest, reaching for her climax.

It built, hot and heavy in her belly. She felt flushed, skin tight and sensitive. She seemed to hover at the edge for an eternity. Then she leaned forward and kissed him, changing the angle she moved at. It ground him against her g-spot and after a few deep, slow thrusts she felt the first pulses of her orgasm hit her.  
 She cried out something that might have been his name and drove down hard, filling herself as she rode through the waves of pleasure that tightened her muscles and left her shaking.

He held her hips and moved her the way he needed, a few fast thrusts while it echoed through her. Then he groaned and a shudder passed through him as she felt the heat spread inside her. She buried her face in his shoulder, holding him as he rode it out. His fingers were digging into her hips to hold her to him and she had the suspicion she'd have a few bruises in the morning. She didn't care a bit, feeling limp and relaxed.

Beneath her, his muscles relaxed, and he muttered, "Damn."

"Mmmhmm," she agreed, stroking his arm lazily.

They stayed like that a long time, heartbeats gradually slowing back to normal. Eventually, Tess's back began to ache and her legs cramp so she eased off of him to flop onto the bed.

Stretching, she said, "This was a good decision."

"This was the best decision we've ever made," he replied.

She giggled and rolled to cuddle against him. "We fit."

"We have always fit," he told her.

That was certainly true. From the moment she'd met him she'd liked him, trusted him. Let him see parts she hadn't let anyone see in a long time. She wasn't at all surprised sex had been so intense. Maybe it had been inevitable.

Of course, she also knew him very well. "You want dinner now?"

He grinned. "Depends if round two is an option."

"Honey, if round two is on the table then I practically _insist_."

He turned his head to kiss her shoulder. "So after dinner is what you're saying."

"Mmm, if I'm going to exhaust you I might as well feed you. Keep up your strength."

"I have plenty of strength," he said, but he did sit up. She didn't move yet, mostly so she could watch him dress. 

He got his shorts on and arched a brow at her expectantly. She considered putting her daisy dukes back on, but they were kind of tight and that didn't sound like a lot of fun right now. She slowly got up and walked to her closet, pulling out a cotton sundress that felt dangerously short with no underwear on.

When he came over to kiss her, he had his hands under it almost immediately. She'd gone on tiptoe to kiss him and his hands cupping her ass were rather useful in keeping her balance. "Of course if you _wanted_ to squeeze a quickie in," she murmured. "I wouldn't protest."

One had dipped between her legs. "You are plenty wet."

His fingers glided over her folds, sensitive and swollen. She shuddered, eyes closing. "All for you." 

"Good." He lifted her up against the wall of her bedroom. He'd let her be in control before, but this was all him now. It was a very explicit reminder of just how strong he was.

She knew he kept himself in check, made an effort to be gentle and nonthreatening. And she knew why. He was big and black and stronger than almost everyone in the world. But she knew who he was, she trusted him more than anyone else. And she _loved_ that he trusted her enough to let his walls down for her.

He held her with one hand and tugged his shorts down enough to free his erection. When he thrust into her it was in one swift, almost rough stroke that had her gasping. He pulled her legs higher, wider apart. It was fast and hard and intense.

Her orgasm, when it came, poured through her, clenching her around him over and over. She clutched at him, dropping little kisses on his shoulder. "Yes," she mumbled into his skin. "Yes, yes, yes." He kept moving as she came, seeking his own pleasure and a second climax seemed to spill into the first. Or maybe it just lasted an eternity. Either way, it left her limp and begging him for more.

"Fuck, Tess," he growled, and he pushed deep into her. She felt him bottom out and her body clenched around him as he came. He whispered a quiet, desperate, "Oh, God," that shot right through her.

He sank down to his knees, holding her tight, still buried deep inside. The change caused a little flutter of aftershock pleasure in her and she wrapped her arms and legs tighter around him. For a second she was a little overwhelmed with emotion, sensation. She didn't recall sex feeling like this before and she'd slept with men she'd been very much in love with. But this was something different. Trust and affection and some kind of strange chemistry she couldn't explain.

With monumental effort, she lifted her head and kissed him tenderly. His breath shuddered, and then he held her face in his hands and returned the kiss. It was messy and intense, and gentle at the same time. It was a kiss about much more than lust, and she could feel it echoed back from him, just as strong.

When it broke he rested his forehead on hers and for a minute they looked into each other's eyes and breathed the other's air. Tess felt like she should say something, but couldn't for the life of her think what. She smiled, though and he smiled back, and it was like they'd come to some sort of agreement. So maybe she didn't need to say a word.

Eventually—eventually—he rubbed his thumb along her lower lip and asked, "Hungry?"

She kissed his thumb and grinned. "Famished."


	7. Chapter 7

Amanda was a little surprised she beat Tess into the office. She rarely got there first on the best of days and today had been her day to take Edie and Roger to school, she didn't get in until almost nine. For a moment, she wondered if she should check in on her, but she dismissed it. FRIDAY would have alerted her if there was a medical emergency and Tess would have sent her a message if there'd been anything wrong.

Sure enough, she came in about twenty minutes later, looking oddly rumpled and pink cheeked. "Sorry, I'm sorry," she said. "My, um, alarm -"

"It's fine," Amanda said, because whatever came after that was going to be a fib. "I only just got here myself."

Tess nodded and set her stuff down. "I just feel bad, I know you wanted to talk about something?"

"Yes." Amanda appreciated the fact that, now that she was comfortable with her, Tess didn't require small talk or hand holding. She wanted to get to the point and work, as much as Amanda did.

So she simply held out the data tablet she'd loaded up for her. Amanda still liked using paper when she was researching, but Tess seemed perfectly comfortable with electronic information and Tony-style holograms.

Tess took the tablet and flicked it on, skimming the first page. "What is this?"

"Information on Eli's family and the dementia effects his serum causes. I want you to go over it and give me any thoughts or insights you have."

To her surprise, Tess turned bright red. "I'm not sure - I'm not an expert in the serum or neurology or anything-"

"That's exactly why I want you to look at it. I've been staring at this problem for years without a lot of success. Every new pair of eyes I get improves my odds of a solution."

After a moment of silence, Tess blurted out, "Eli and I slept together." Then she turned even brighter red and clapped a hand over her mouth.

Years of training kept Amanda's face neutral. "Congratulations."

"I'm so sorry," Tess said, covering her eyes. "I didn't mean to just say it like that. I just meant. . . given that we have a relationship maybe it's not appropriate that I work on this. Objectivity-"

"Went out the window a very long time ago," Amanda assured her. "I'm married to a super soldier. I'm very good friends with a lot of people I've treated as a doctor. Lani Wilson works the same way. You can't keep professional detachment with your team, Tess. Sooner or later you're going to be working on one of them in a life or death situation. Whether it's Eli or Kate or Peter, you're going to be emotionally invested."

She looked down at the data pad, looking miserable. "It just seems. . . invasive."

"I'll tell you what. If Eli has a problem with you working on this then I'll take it back. But sometimes being close to the issue is a good thing." She paused, then continued quietly, "Two years ago Tony Stark had a heart attack. A massive one. He happened to be staying here at the time and FRIDAY got me up there within a two minutes of symptom onset. It's probably the only thing that saved his life. Once he was better, he and I sat down and decided to invent an artificial heart, to replace the one that's failing him." She gestured to the collection of papers on her desk. "Would I be working on it if he didn't need one? Probably not. But I want my best friend to see his grand kids. So I'm going to spend the rest of his life trying to make it happen."

Leaning over, she gave Tess's hand a squeeze. "No matter what any of your teachers told you, there is room for emotion in medicine."

Tess looked at the pad and her mouth firmed up. With a curt nod, she tucked it in her bag. "I'll look it over tonight."

They went over a few more things, then she sent Tess on her way for her other training.

"FRIDAY?" Amanda asked when she was gone. "Where is my husband?"

"Sparring with Captain Rogers in the gym."

Perfect. She locked up and headed upstairs to the gym the original members used so as not to intrude on the new team's training. Sure enough, there was James and Steve, shirtless and sweaty. She waited on the side lines until they noticed her and James grinned. "Hey, darlin'. Something wrong?"

"Nope. Just that you owe me two months of laundry duty."

He looked momentarily confused, then his jaw dropped. "You're kidding."

"Do I _want_ to know what you bet on?" Steve asked, walking over to grab his water bottle and taking a swig.

"Whether Eli and the new Doc would hook up." James grabbed his own drink and downed half of it before asking, "How do you know? Asking FRIDAY is cheating."

She rolled her eyes. "That was not part of the original agreement. In any case, she told me. Unprompted, before you ask."

"Good for them," Steve said. 

"Yeah, she seemed happy. She was late for work."

"Always a good sign," James agreed.

"I'm going to pretend I don't know," Steve said. "I don't like prying into their business if I don't have to."

"That's probably for the best. I don't think she meant to tell me. But I asked her to look into his family's case history and she was concerned about conflict of interest."

"That's probably for her conscience to decide." It was a very Steve thing to say.

"I told her I was married to a super soldier and building a heart for my best friend and she needed to come to terms with being emotionally compromised about her patients."

"That's my girl," James said fondly, kissing her temple. "Always with the soft touch."

"We're all compromised," Steve said. "One way or another."

"It's what makes us such a good team."

*

Friday afternoon, Eli went back to his apartment to shower after training. It felt presumptuous to just go over to Tess's apartment. . . but he really wanted to see her. After some hemming and hawing, he texted her. _You doing anything for dinner?_

_I was gonna order pad thai and eat it on the couch in my pajamas while watching movies,_ came the reply a moment later.

That did not sound like an invitation. He strove for a neutral answer. _Sounds like fun._

There was a slightly longer pause before she answered. _If you want something other than Thai I'm open to negotiations. The pajamas are a requirement, though I think you'll approve._

He didn't even text back. He just went and knocked on her door. It opened automatically and he stepped inside to find her on the couch, already in said pajamas, which turned out to be a tank top and shorts combo covered in seashells and stars that showed even more leg than she had the night before.

She grinned when she saw him, tossing the phone on the coffee table. "Hello."

Eli swallowed, and grinned at her. There was more emotion than he intended in his voice when he replied, "Your pajamas are perfect."

"Thank you." She patted the couch next to her. "Come on. Let's order the food and discuss alternate forms of entertainment other than a six part mini series on forgotten female scientists."

"Didn't require talking last night," he said, rounding the couch and sitting next to her. After a moment's hesitation, he leaned over and kissed her.

She cupped his face and kissed him back, sweet and soft and familiar. "Don't mock my attempts at flirting," she murmured when he lifted his head. "I can be blunt if you want me to be."

"I like the flirting," he said. "I like talking to you. But you could order me into a wordless fuck if that appealed. I have faith in your ability to make obscene hand gestures."

She laughed, then kissed him again. This one deeper and more intense. She shifted, draping her legs over his lap to get closer to him. "Well," she said when they broke for air. "FRIDAY tells me the average order time for the Thai place is an hour and eighteen minutes on a weekend night. I think we could probably get two rounds in that time. Wordless or otherwise."

He groaned, reaching up to cup her breast. He couldn't get enough of this woman. "We should order. And then I'll take you up on that."

She managed to snag the menu and her phone off the coffee table, handing him the menu so he could pick his meals. When she called the order in he noticed the Southern come out more in her voice. She actually chatted with the person on the other end and actually ended up getting a free dessert, somehow.

"You're adorable, you know that?" he said when she hung up.

With a shy smile, she shrugged. "And I don't even try."

He tugged on her arm, so she'd come closer. "If you tried, you might actually kill me."

"Oh, I wouldn't like that." She kissed him, curling her arms around his shoulders and pulling herself into his lap. He took the opportunity to stroke his hand along the bare skin of her leg, making her shiver. "I told Doc about . . . us," she murmured.

Eli stilled. "Did you?"

"I - yeah." She leaned back, clearly sensing his shift in mood. "I didn't plan to. But she wants me to look at your records. The effects the serum's had on your family. And I felt obligated to point out the conflict of interest."

He sighed. "It's okay. But everyone is probably going to know now."

"Doc doesn't strike me as a gossip," she offered.

"She will tell her husband. He'll tell Steve. Steve will tell Sharon. It will percolate through the women. If it reached Ada—which it probably will—people in New Jersey will know." 

She frowned, trailing her fingers on his arm, then sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry that wasn't in your briefing packet. We are like an insular old world village. Everybody's up in everybody's business."

Hesitantly, she asked, "Did you not want them to know? I mean, they're our friends, won't they be happy for us?"

"They will. I'm just not sure how to get out of this without me having to punch Nate/Wyatt/Peter for saying something crass, and/or the girls asking you embarrassing questions."

"I can't help you with the boys, but I can assure you the girls think of you as a brother and speaking as someone with brothers, they will want absolutely no information on your sex life."

He smiled at her. "Well, then, I can handle those assholes."

"Good," she said, leaning in to kiss him again. He sighed contentedly, wrapping his arms around her. Something about her just settled him. So they kissed for a while, no desperation and no hurry. They had time.

"This is nice," she murmured, arching into the hand he'd slipped beneath her pajama top. "Didn't realize how long I'd been wanting to kiss you until I was allowed to."

"I was pretending I didn't feel things," he said. "Clearly I did."

"It was good though. Getting to know each other. I like how comfortable I am with you."

He reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ears. This was something more than casual, and that was uncharted territory for him. "I don't mind if you read my medical files. Though if you do so and decide you don't want to be involved with a time bomb, I'll understand."

She frowned. "Eli, I knew about the serum effects a long time ago. It doesn't change anything. Nobody's guaranteed anything in life. I'm not gonna turn my back on someone who makes me happy because there's a bad end."

"It's not just a bad end, it's an ugly end. It starts slowly and goes on slowly. My uncle, for example, has been in a locked psych ward for my entire life." Sometimes Eli wondered if other people really understood how horrible the whole fucking mess was.

"I get the feeling you don't have a lot of hope for Doc finding an answer," Tess said softly, stroking a hand back and forth on the back of his head and neck.

"Hope is a little too dangerous for a guy like me," he replied.

There was silence as she seemed to consider that. She studied his face, still rubbing his neck a little. "Life changes in an instant," she finally said, voice soft. "I won't pretend I know what it's like growing up with this. . . sword over your head. But I'd be very happy to keep you company under it for a while. Until my company stops bringing you comfort."

It was probably way, way too soon to be talking about this sort of thing. But they were doing it anyway. "Promise me you won't screw up your life 'cause of me?"

"If you promise not to push me away for my own good."

That sounded like a trap, but one he wanted to jump into. He should not be indulging in crazy thoughts like having an alternative to always being alone. But she made it sound so tempting. Just thinking about it. "Deal."

"Deal," she said, with an officious little nod.

"Come here," he whispered, pulling her down so he could kiss her. She made a soft little sound into his mouth, kissing him back. It was no longer slow and lazy, but deep and intense. Her body seemed to melt into his, fitting perfectly as she tucked closer to him, curling her legs up. He slid his hands under her shirt and tugged it up slowly, being careful he didn't rip it. She lifted her arms so he could take it off, leaving her curled in his lap in just her little scrap of shorts. He left his hands run slowly back down her arms and sides and watched her nipples tighten at the light touch. He framed her waist with his hands and lifted her up—she weighted nothing—so he could capture one nipple in his mouth. She made a noise and grabbed his shoulders.

Her back arched with his first hard suck and she kept rocking a little in time with his suction. "I like it when you move me around," she whispered, making it sound like a confession.

"You're so light," he said. "And little." He shifted her then, laying her on her back on the couch. "I worry I'll hurt you." He bent over her and kissed her navel.

"I'm not little," she protested. "And you didn't hurt me last night. Not even that time at four am when we could really see what we were doing."

He pulled her shorts down and off, leaving her bare. "I was pretty worn out," he replied with a grin.

She was watching him, clearly anticipating his next move. "You rallied admirably," she assured him. Then, very deliberately, she bent her knees, causing her thighs to spread.

He kissed his way up the inside of her thigh, murmuring, "I'm good at that." It made her laugh. He loved that they still laughed, despite how intense this was. Then he reached her sex, touching her with his fingers and his tongue, and she made an entirely different sort of sound. Her moan was low and guttural, pure sex.

She was already wet as he tested her. One on her hands settled on his head, feather light, as he parted her folds and gave her one long, explicit lick.

"Good, that's good," she whispered. "Please." He slid his fingers inside her and felt her clench around them in anticipation. He so loved taking her apart. Listening to her voice get more desperate, feeling her body strain up to him.

He found her clit and focused on it, fingers stroking in and out. Her legs shifted and trembled, widening to open her to him.

"Right there," she whimpered, hips lifting. "Right there. Please, please don't stop." He sucked hard on her, fingers moving faster, rougher. Her fingers tightened, nails scraping his scalp. "Please, please. I'm coming, I'm coming. Please." She gave a little broken cry and arched, body shaking. Her sex pulsed and throbbed against his mouth, tightening on his fingers.

He lifted his head a little to watch her, eyes closed and head thrown back. Slowly he withdrew his hand, waiting for her to calm down. Her hips followed him and she made an almost pained sound at the loss before sagging back onto the couch.

After a moment she opened her eyes and looked at him, pupils wide. She smiled, somewhere between seductive and shy. "Thank you," she murmured.

He chuckled. "That was very much my pleasure."

"Mmm." She stretched, toes pointing, then hook a leg around him. "C'mere."

He leaned over to kiss her, and she grabbed fistfuls of his shirt to pull him closer when she could reach. It was a slow, lazy, messy kiss.

"I can't ravish you if you're wearing this much clothing," she complained. 

He made a noise of agreement and straightened so he could yank his shirt off. "Better?"

"Much." She reached up for him and he met her halfway, kissing her again. After a moment they broke for air and she trailed kisses along his neck and shoulder, ducking her head to give one nipple a slow, lazy lick.

Eli groaned and bent his head. "Don't know I got the patience for a slow ravish."

She nipped at his skin. "I suppose we are on a timer." She kissed him again. "Lose the pants and I'll get more comfortable."

He had no idea what that might mean, but he leaned back to shed his pants. Only to have her wiggle away from him and turn over, bracing her arms on the end of the couch to prop herself up.

He grinned and slid his hands over her ass and up along her spine. "See now this I can work with."

She arched into his touch, then gave another little wiggle. "Thought you might like it."

That was a tempting sight. "I like you every way," he told her. Then he pulled her back by her hips and thrust into her. She gave another one of those sexy moans, body squeezing around him. When he pulled out, she rocked back into him and together they found a rhythm of give-and-take that worked.

For a moment he just enjoyed it, feeling her and listening to the sounds she made. Then he reached under her, cupping one breast his had. The other slid downward to find her clit. She gasped and shuddered, her sounds growing more intense, more desperate.

"Harder," she said, hips thrusting back roughly. "I need it."

He could feel his thoughts getting fuzzy, his higher brain functions shutting down. He was so afraid to hurt her, but when she begged him like that it was nearly impossible to resist. She felt so fucking good.

She ground against him and whimpered, and he held her by her hips so he could fuck her harder, faster. Her elbows buckled and she dropped her head, bracing against the armrest. It made her back arch and he could feel himself sinking deeper into her with every thrust.

Each thrust drew a little cry from her and even in his haze he could feel she was slicker and hotter. She let out a wail that became his name and then started to shudder. Her body clenched around him, over and over again and she rocked back into him with helpless little sounds as she rode it out. He held her still because he absolutely couldn't take it anymore. Just the feel of her milking him was enough, and then his orgasm was matching hers. 

He lost touch with everything but the pleasure for a moment. When he came back she was gasping for air, still rocking slightly. He reached under her to touch her again, gently stroking his fingertip around her clit. He'd found that if he caught it just right, he could make her come a second time just after the first.

" _Eli_." She squirmed as if she wasn't sure if she wanted to move away or get closer. Shifting her weight, she reached down and wrapped a hand around his wrist. But she just squeezed and a moment later she was thrusting back, fucking him as she rode out the new waves of pleasure.

He kissed the back of her shoulders. "I love making you do that."

She mumbled something incoherent, slumping onto the couch. She was still pulsing lightly around him. "You unraveled me," she said after a moment.

He pulled out of her slowly, making her whimper. It almost sounded like a protest, before she melted down onto the cushions. "Don't tell me you want more."

"Mmm." She smiled, looking rather blissed out. "We have all weekend."

And it was, more or less, what they did with their weekend. Thai food wasn't the most seductive of cuisines, but there was a lot of oil and sauces to lick or suck off fingers. Especially when eaten naked. And the way she enjoyed the friend banana dessert was a sex act unto itself. They retired to the bedroom pretty quickly afterwards.

In the morning she cooked him a huge breakfast and they made a valiant attempt to watch her ladies of science show. In the middle of an actually very interesting section on a bunch of women at Harvard called computers charting the stars, Tess started rubbing his leg. He returned the favor and pretty soon she was stroking him through his sweats and he had a hand in her shorts. They had a messy, half dressed fuck on the floor in front of her couch and that was pretty much the end of pretending they had any other agenda.

He hadn't ever had a serious relationship before, though he had had a couple of weekends of sex and more sex. This was different, though. Some of it was the intoxication of a new partner. But some of it was because it was her. Because it was the beginning of something, not an isolated incident. He wanted to learn all the ways to make her moan and gasp and scream. And he loved leaning back and letting her do the same to him. They had a crazy sort of alchemy between them, that showed no signs of fading.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! And a happy Sunday to those who do not. Thank you so much for reading and sticking with us through a rough year. We look forward to bringing you more stories in the coming year. Wishing you a joyous and peaceful day and new year.

Late Saturday night, they were in her bed, shades open to let in the light of the city. They'd attempted to shower together and had more or less succeeded in get clean and un-sticky, though he had lifted her up against the shower wall. Tess was curled against his side, one leg over his and an arm around his waist, breath ticking his chest.

"I admit," she said quietly. "I might have a little trouble looking your mom in the eye at church tomorrow."

He laughed. "God, me too. She'll probably know the minute she sees us."

"I'm always nervous around my boyfriend's parents. I'm convinced I'll say something embarrassing. Hi, Sarah. That's a lovely scarf. Eli gave me twenty two orgasms this weekend."

He lifted his head. "Was it really 22?"

Her fingers tapped on his side as if she were counting on them. "Yep," she said after a moment. "Twenty-two."

He probably shouldn't feel as proud of that as he did. "You know that first Sunday she told me there was a vibe and she thought I was going to tell her you were pregnant."

She squeaked and coughed a little. "God. Well, at least she won't be surprised."

"I told her we were just friends. I'm not sure she believed me."

Rubbing his side a little, she said, "We weren't very good at fighting it. I'm not surprised she picked up on it."

"She's been dying for me to have some kind of girlfriend for years."

"So you're saying she'll be planning the wedding and teaching me how to make your favorite childhood meals?"

Eli sighed. Wasn't that its own can of worms. His mother had never understood his determination not to leave collateral damage in the wake of his eventually insanity. "Probably."

Clearly not noticing his change in tone, Tess sighed and cuddled closer. "I haven't had a Mama in a long time. I'd kind of like to borrow yours."

He'd much rather talk about her than himself. "What happened to your mother?"

"Nothing. As far as I know she's still working at the five and dime and going to tent revivals. I'm just. . . not welcome to see her."

"Why the hell not?" Eli asked, outraged on her behalf.

She cleared her throat and shifted against him. "My father disowned me when I went to my sophomore year of college. I haven't spoken to any of my family since."

"He disowned you for. . . not dropping out?"

His incredulity made her chuckle, but it was bitter. "I went on scholarship freshman year. My prize for winning Miss Coal Miner's Daughter when I was seventeen. I don't know why he didn't protest then. Maybe figured it was harmless or that I'd drop out. Or maybe Mama convinced him I'd meet a man there. I don't think he expected me to love it as much as I did, or want to go back. I spent all spring and summer figuring out student loans and partial scholarships. Applied for a work study program. And two days before I was supposed to go back he said I couldn't. It was a waste of time and money. I should just go back to working at the diner on the interstate. There was no point in throwing money at trying to teach me useless stuff."

Her voice hardened. "I remember, the last thing he said before leaving to go drink with his buddies was 'Tessie, you're pretty as a picture, but no boy's gonna want you if you keep thinking you're so smart.' Then he gave me two dollars bus fare to go out to the diner in the morning. I spent about an hour trying to get the nerve to tear up my loan paperwork. Instead I packed up everything I could carry and took the bus back to college. Never went back. I sent a Christmas card and it was returned. That was the last of it. I've been on my own ever since."

He sifted his fingers into her hair. "Ah, baby, I'm sorry."

She nodded and shrugged a little. "I made it through," she said. He was pretty sure she'd been aiming for a light tone, but it had come out rough.

"Do they know what you do now? Who you are?"

"I don't know. I suppose they could have seen it on the news."

"I'd have sent a gloating postcard if I were you." He bent his head and kissed her. "I think you're brilliant and I want you."

She smiled widely and gave him a tight squeeze. "Thank you."

"Is your father a stereotypical racist redneck?"

"Pretty much." She paused. "Maybe I should write him. Knowing about you might cause some sort of stroke."

"I was gonna say that. I am that kinda dude's worse nightmare. Send him a picture. Hi, Pops, this is the guy I'm banging. Often."

She laughed, which made him happy. Pressing a little kiss to his shoulder, she hooked her leg more firmly over his legs. "I just want to leave him in the past. He's not part of my life anymore."

"Okay," he said, letting his hand wander along her leg. "I'm happy to be part of your present."

"You are one of the _best_ parts of my present," she said softly.

"You too," he replied. "And I don't have much of a future so that matters even more."

She made a soft sound and hugged him tighter, reaching up to kiss him. "We should make the most of it, then, shouldn't we?"

*

There were times - a lot of times - that living in the Tower reminded Tess of living in the dorms or other student housing. Everyone had their own spaces and schedules and saw each other in training or what not. But there was also a few common areas, with couches, high-end video game equipment and up-to-date magazines on the tables. Tess had no idea whose job it was to refresh the magazines in the Avengers common room, but whoever they were, their efforts were appreciated.

She was hanging out in said common room, drinking coffee and reading the Bradley family file, when Kate plopped down next to her.

Kate was not much of a talker or a plopper, so this was probably worth looking up for. "Hi?" she offered.

"Rumor has it you and Eli have hooked up."

Well, he'd certainly been right about the rumor mill. "Yes."

Kate nodded, and Tess wondered if she'd been expecting her to deny it. "There's no official rules against dating team members and the other girls and I think of him like a big brother, so we're all okay with it."

Tess smiled. "Thank you that's-"

"But he's a lot more fragile than he lets on. So I swear to whatever God you believe in if you hurt him you will never see the arrow."

Kate smiled pleasantly when she said it and Tess took a moment to contemplate her next words. "Thank you for caring about him enough to say that." Kate's smile widened and Tess added, "I promise, hurting him is the last thing on my mind."

"Good. And just in case you think we're being sexist, Kamala and Cassie are threatening him on your behalf."

It was a really stupid thing to get choked up about, but Tess couldn't help it. It had been a long time since she had anyone to do the threatening for her. "Thank you," she said quietly. "I know you're not a hugger so just. . . metaphorical hug."

That made Kate smile. "Thanks."

"He was concerned you guys would ask embarrassing questions. I assured him none of you wanted to hear about his sex life."

"Yes." She actually shuddered. "We don't want you to feel you have to censor yourself. But if during our more R-rated talks you could. . ."

"Pretend I'm talking about a former boyfriend."

"Yeah, that."

"No problem." Her phone buzzed, indicating it was time to mosey down to training. "Are you on the clock right now too?" she asked, gathering her stuff.

"I'm always on the clock."

That was true. Kate didn't really have a casual mode. Even when they were all having girl time she struck Tess as tense. Like a doctor on-call. "I'm doing weapons training. I feel like Clint'll need a stiff drink when we're done."

"Doesn't your suit have rockets on it?"

"It does, but I can only carry a finite supply. Apparently Ada has made a successful argument for equipping me as a - How'd she put it? Ranged DPS healer." Tess shrugged. "I'm hoping it's all theoretical, but I suppose more training never hurts. Well it _hurts_ but - You know what I mean."

"Knowing how to fight is a useful skill. Even if it's just to survive until help arrives."

"Exactly." They headed for the elevator that would take them down to the training levels. "I figure if we're ever in such dire straights that I've picked up an enemy's gun to hold the line it'll be in everyone's best interest if I can hit what I'm aiming at."

"That'll probably be more of a pray and spray scenario. Which I, as a marksman, really hate."

"It's always difficult to watch someone do something you do well, badly. I can't even watch medical dramas."

"You're telling me I'm going to have a painful afternoon watching you?"

Tess gave her a wry smile. "Maybe Clint'll give you some of his stiff drink."

Kate chuckled as they walked down the hallway. There was a small indoor range for practice and testing. Tess knew that Clint and Kate drove up to the big property in Ithaca for distance practice.

He was there waiting for her and he smiled when he saw her with Kate. Clint Barton had one of those ageless faces. Tess had seen pictures of him from a decade ago, when the original team had been active. He looked almost exactly the same now that he did in those pictures. Maybe a couple extra grey hairs. It was like he had grown to an adult, looked about forty, and stayed thus for the rest of his life.

"Good morning, ladies," he said. He looked at Kate. "You here to help or just watch?"

She shrugged. "I got kind of corralled into this. I'll start with help and see where it goes."

"Right." He waved to Tess. He had a small gun case on the table. "I thought a small handgun would be the best place to start. Ada can probably stash one in your suit."

That made sense. There were a surprising amount of places to put things in or on the suit. She looked down at the gun he pulled out. Her father and brothers had all owned guns and enjoyed talking about them non-stop. For the most part she tuned them out, especially on the topic of handguns. They were generally only good for one thing.

He walked her through the moving parts, showed her how to load it, then handed it to her and pointed her at the target. She held it in both hands like he'd shown her and did her best to aim down the sight before firing.

The target didn't even flutter. Wherever that bullet had gone it was no where near where it was supposed to.

There was a moment of silence, then Kate said, "Yeah, Barton, I can't help you."

Clint's expression didn't change, though he stared at the unblemished target a very long time. Finally he said, "Try again."

It had been a very long time since Tess had been _this_ bad at something. She did, eventually, start hitting the target, but never came close to the center. First she was squeezing too hard, jerking the gun up. Clint gave her a weightier gun to compensate. Then she seemed to constantly pull to the right, no matter what she did. Clint physically moved her to the left a few inches and still, nowhere near the bullseye.

He cleared his throat. "Okay, maybe. . ."

"We should probably explore. . ." Kate added.

"Yeah," Clint replied. Sometimes when the two of them talked, it didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Tess had no idea what they were going to suggest, but the tone reminded her of the one the town librarian had used when asking if she was _sure_ she wanted to check out a book that thick. It was well meant. Neither of them were enjoying watching her fail and, really, it wasn't the end of the world if she couldn't shoot straight.

Of course, the librarian had meant well, too. Hadn't made her any less determined to read the darn book.

She turned to the table he'd spread his guns out on. There were longer guns at the far end, so she headed down there. She picked up the one that looked the most like the busted .22 rifle her father had handed her when she was nine or ten. It was fancier and newer, but the parts all worked the same.

Loading it as she walked, she took her place and put the rifle up on her shoulder. "Make the targets move."

"Move where?" Clint asked.

"Back and forth, up and down. Everything in this building is automated, I'm assuming they're no different."

Before he could respond, the door to the range room opened, and Wyatt and Nate walked in. "Oh, hello," Wyatt said.

"We're teaching Tess how to shoot," Kate said. "It's not going well."

Later, Tess would appreciate Kate's use of understatement.

"Why does Tess need to shoot?" Nate asked. "The rest of us are the fighters."

"Because shit happens," Clint replied. He looked at Tess. "Given how the stationary target—"

There was that librarian voice again. "Please?" she said quietly. "Just let me try."

He inhaled, then nodded. "FRIDAY, move the targets."

"Randomly?" the AI asked. 

"Linearly," Wyatt said from behind them, understanding in his voice.

Tess smiled a little and glanced at him. He gave her a little nod, then she turned back to the targets. They started to move, moving left to right at different speeds and lengths.

Perfect.

She put the rifle to her shoulder, picked one target, led it till she had the pace down, then fired.

A hole appeared dead center.

Kate whistled. Wyatt clapped.

"What the hell was that?" Nate asked, always the person to say what others are thinking.

Tess took a couple more shots, to prove it wasn't a fluke, hitting just as accurately. Lowering the rifle she glanced over at him. "Sometimes, when your dad spends his paycheck on things other than food, all you get to eat is what you can kill. So you eat a lot of duck and rabbit, till Mama's check comes in."

"We've got to go hunting together," Wyatt said.

Hunting wasn't particularly a happy memory for her. But she was now in a fantastic mood and Wyatt seemed to enjoy bonding over their fellow hickness, so she nodded. "Introduce everyone to wild game."

"Long guns it is," Clint said. "I can work with that."

The next half hour was a lot more fun, especially with Wyatt and Nate hanging around suggesting trick shots. None of them were quite sure how she was gonna tote a rifle around in her suit. But Clint declared that a problem for Team Science and the rest of the agreed whole heartedly.

Training the devolved into Clint and Kate showing off, which was even more fun.

Afterwards, they all ended up going out for drinks, conversation dominated by the boys and their loudness. But that was okay. Tess was having a victorious day.

"I texted the rest of them," Kate said. "Told them to meet us."

And now she would get to see Eli, for the first time since waking up this morning. They were early enough in their relationship she felt it was okay to miss him after ten hours.

They trickled into the bar. Eli was one of the last to arrive—she knew he was there without even seeing him just from the murmurs in the bar. When he came into sight, she grinned at him and he grinned back.

Kate leaned around her and poked Peter—sitting on Tess's other side—in the arm. "Hey, move over."

He frowned at her. "Why?"

There was a moment of silence, and then Nate asked, "Seriously, dude?"

Eli had almost reached them. Tess hooked a thumb in his direction and said, "You're in his seat."

Peter looked from her to Eli, still clearly confused. On his other side, Kamala shook her head. "All those women you juggle and you don't notice when _other_ people are hooking up?"

"I don't have time for other people's business." He did, however, get up and switch to the empty seat next to Nate.

Just in time for Eli to reach the table and sink into the now vacant seat. "Hi," Tess said softly, reaching for his hand.

"Hey," he replied. She could see him hesitate a moment—they did have quite the audience—before leaning over and kissing her.

There was the expecting hooting and squealing. Tess didn't pay them any attention.

"Tess had a good day," Kate told him when they parted.

He didn't take his eyes off her face. "I can tell."

Tess smiled widely at him. "I ordered you a drink."

"You guys are adorable," Kamala said. "This is the most adorable thing that's ever happened on this team."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Tess told her, settling into Eli's side as he stretched an arm on the back of her seat. "My life has been severely lacking in adorable."

"We're happy for you," Kate said. "But I also need more to drink."

That got a laugh from the rest of the group and the conversation moved on to other topics. Tess was content to just listen, while Eli traced patterns on her arm with his fingertips.

This had been a very good day.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger/content warning:
> 
> So this is the chapter that deals with unplanned pregnancy and the conversations and decisions that come from that, including abortion. We know that this is a hot button topic for a lot of people and may be upsetting, so wanted to call it out. If you feel that this topic would be upsetting to you I suggest stopping reading at the * when we change to Tess's POV and resume again with the next chapter.
> 
> We also humbly ask that our readers keep any sort of debate out of the comments. Everyone has their opinions and feelings on this topic, often strong ones. Ours are probably pretty obvious in this chapter, but we are not trying to start a debate, only tell a story. Please respect this as a safe space and leave arguments and debates to more appropriate venues.

Fall came in swiftly after that. Eli liked cooler weather. His body ran warmer and he was always a little miserable in the summer. He and Tess spend nearly all of their free time together, in one or other of their apartments. It was downright chilly by end of November, when the Avengers had their big Thanksgiving dinner. It was kind of a big thing, for both new and old—last year the team had flown to Wakanda. This year everyone came to New York, even the ones who rarely left Wakanda and traveled on diplomatic passports. They all went to the compound upstate, where it had already started snowing.

Tess wore an extremely flattering pair of pants to dinner. Between the appetizer and the main course, Wanda Maximoff cornered Eli, levitated up to eye level and informed him that if he didn't find something less smutty to think about she was going to tape his eyelids closed.

Mercifully, Tess remained oblivious to his being chided about lascivious thoughts. She'd been excited about Thanksgiving since Steve and Sharon had announced it earlier in the month. She hadn't put too fine a point on it, but he got the feeling she hadn't had a proper Thanksgiving since leaving home. When he'd mentioned it, she'd protested she and her fellow residents had cobbled together sandwiches and Hostess apple pies last year, which hadn't helped any.

After dinner, people mingled. Tess struck up a conversation with Violet Banner about the kids books the other woman wrote and Eli wandered off to see what the men were doing. When he got back he found her surrounded by little girls, carefully weaving French braids and discussing Disney movies. It was a level of cute he was not fully prepared for.

"I see you've made friends."

"Wanda's little girl demanded I braid her hair like mine is," she replied. "And then word got out."

Esther Taschengregger looked up at him with huge brown eyes. "Dr. Tess and I have the same name."

"Do you now? I didn't know that."

Tess was carefully braiding Elinor Bennet's thick brown curls into something with way more than three plaits but she confirmed, "Esther Opal Sullivan. We all got Biblical first names and middle names Mama thought were pretty. My sister is Naomi Dolly, so I got off easy."

"That's a very pretty name," Eli told her, and he meant it.

"Thank you," she said, glancing up to smile at him. "I couldn't say Esther when I was little, I said Tesser. Hence, Tess."

Esther smiled up at him. "My Grandpa's name is Eli, too. You kinda look like him."

He looked down at her. He couldn't fathom how he could possibly look like an old Jewish dude, but he found himself asking, "Like how?"

"You both are bald. Did your hair fall out? Mama said Grandpa's hair fell out."

"No, he shaves it," Tess piped up. "Sometimes when it's growing out I like to ruffle my hands over the stubble." This information caused both girls to giggle.

"Are you two _dating_?" Elinor asked in a slightly scandalized tone.

"We are," Tess told her.

"Do you _kiss_?" Esther whispered.

"We do."

Elinor tried to turn her head to look at Tess. "With tongue?"

"Ellie!" Esther scolded.

He could see Tess shaking with silent laughter. Eli crouched down to eye level. "Come on, girls. Asking people questions like that in public is bad manners."

"Mommy says questions never hurt," Elinor informed him solemnly.

"That's because your Mommy and I have differing opinions on what qualifies as good manners."

"Hmph."

"Your braid is done," Tess informed her, wrapping a hair elastic around the bottom.

"Thank you!" Ellie said brightly, skipping off.

Eli grinned at her. "You're good with kids."

"Thank you." She held her hands out so he could pull her to her feet. "They're cute."

He debated a moment before asking her, "Do you want them someday? Kids?"

She hesitated before answering. "Yes. I think so. Someday."

That was the answer he expected. "If Doc manages to fix me, so would I. Otherwise it seems. . . catastrophically unwise."

Based on her lack of surprise, that had been the answer she'd expected. "I wouldn't be ready for any now, regardless of who I was with."

He chuckled. "Yeah, no."

She rubbed her hands along his arms. "Are you ready to go? I think I've had enough socializing."

He leaned down to kiss her. "I'm sure we'll find a way to entertain ourselves back in our room."

"Mmm. I can think of several things I'm thankful for."

They spent Christmas with his family, which was a nice, quiet, mellow affair. Them and his mom, sister, and his sister's new boyfriend. The guy looked terrified to meet Eli, which amused the hell out of him.

Tess helped his mom and sister in the kitchen. Every time he went in he heard the three of them giggling over something. His mom had hung a stocking for both her and the boyfriend, full of candy and simple toiletries. No one had ever been as excited over a toothbrush and deodorant and Tess was. When they left, she hugged his mom a very long time.

"Thank you for sharing your family with me," she said later that night when they were back at the Tower.

"My mother adores you." He bent his head to kiss the top of hers.

"And I love her. And Stephanie was really sweet." She was quiet a moment. "And Darius seemed to realize you weren't going to pummel him towards the end and really loosened up."

"So you had a good Christmas?"

"I had a wonderful Christmas," she told him, wrapping her arms around him.

He held her tight. "Thank you for being in my life."

She sighed softly. "I hope to be so for a very long time."

The craziest thing was, she was starting to make him hope, too.

In January the weather was cold and snowy, making Eli not want to leave the tower if he didn't have to. Deep winter was always sort of gross in the city. They went on a mission in the tropics, and he contemplating just quitting and going to live somewhere it was nice year round. Mentioning this on the plane back caused Tess to ponder if, despite his immunity to disease, there were ailments of the jungle he would be susceptible to. Which led to the gross if memorable conclusion, "Malaria wouldn't be a concern but foot rot and parasites are a definite possibility."

"You really think about quitting," Kate asked him later, away from the others.

"Well not after that conversation about tapeworms."

She chuckled. "Yeah, gonna be taking a couple places off my vacation list this year."

"But seriously. . .no. I was just shooting the shit. I like being needed. Putting what time I have left to good use."

She nodded, looking thoughtful. He waited. He'd known Kate long enough to know she'd either tell him what was on her mind or not and no amount of questions or silence would sway the decision.

Sure enough, after a moment she admitted, "My parents are poking me about it at Christmas. My dad seems to think I could go back to college and restart my life over again."

He tilted his head. "You lead the Avengers. That's not a life that sounds like it needs restarting."

That made her smile. "Yeah. I think sometimes that's not how they see it. But thanks, I needed to hear that."

"Anytime, Chief."

She smiled and cuffed his arm, which was as close to a hug as Kate did, before heading off towards her apartment.

Eli went back to his, because post mission showers were better off taken alone due to the need to actually scrub. Tess was coming over tonight.

Of course, the night one of them _didn't_ go over to the other's place were really more noteworthy. It was just accepted and expected now. FRIDAY let them into each other's apartments with immunity. In fact, the only time in recent memory they hadn't spent a night together was a day or two ago when Tess hadn't been feeling well. And even then he'd gone over to make her soup and rub her back a little before going back to his bed to sleep.

She was late, which wasn't like her, so he texted her. _You okay?_

The gap before she replied was almost long enough to get him to go over and check in person. She brought out the worrier in him. _Yes, sorry. I think I'm still under the weather. Sat down after my shower and nodded off. Be over in a sec._

Sure enough, his door swung open a few moments later. She was bundled up in sweats and the hand-knit socks Doc had given her at Christmas and looked a little pale. "Hi," she said, coming over for a hug.

"You really are coming down with something," he said, wrapping her in her arms and kissing the top of her head. "You probably shouldn't have come on the mission."

"I felt fine this morning," she protested. "It's really weird, I haven't been sick in ages, and I had my flu shot. I'm thinking of trying to get on Doc's schedule. I'm concerned my iron levels are low or something."

"Doc is really good at sorting people out. Is there anything I can do? It's not like I can catch it."

"Mmm, I was hoping some cuddling and leeching some of your body heat would make me feel better."

"I am more than happy to cuddle you and keep you warm."

"Thank you." She tipped her head back and kissed his jaw.

"How about I make you something to eat and we curl up on the couch?"

"That sounds just perfect."

*

Tess felt even worse the next morning, so she had FRIDAY put her on Doc's schedule and inform Nat she wouldn't be at training. Eli fussed a little, bringing her tea and toast before heading off to do his own things.

Doc made her time at ten am, so Tess nibbled her toast and sipped her tea before heading down to the infirmary.

They said doctors were the worst patients, and Tess had certainly had friends who had proved it. She tried to go in when she felt bad enough, especially after ignoring a cough during finals week and ending up with pneumonia for Christmas.

Doc did the routine physical, took some blood to test and asked her the usual questions. Tess thought it all sounded like low iron, possibly paired with a cold, and based on her demeanor, Doc didn't seem worried either.

Until the blood test came back.

She stared at the data pad a little longer than usual, then blew out a breath. "You decided to go with the IUD for birth control, right?" That seemed like a non-sequitur, but Tess nodded. "And that's the _only_ birth control you're using?"

Tess's skin started to prickle and she suddenly felt much colder. "Yes."

Doc sighed again. "Your blood test shows levels of hCG."

For a second it was really hard to breathe. hCG was the hormone that pregnancy tests looked for. There was no reason for it to be in her test if she wasn't pregnant. "Is. . . could there be a mistake?"

Doc just looked at her. "I think you know the answer to that." She handed the data pad to Tess, then hopped up on the exam table to sit next to her. "My daughter was an accident. I was almost 40, and I had a single birth control slip up. Sharon Rogers got pregnant the first time they tried. Got me curious if the serum effects sperm quality, so I convinced the boys to let me run some tests." 

"And it did?" Doc nodded and Tess slumped a little. "I assume that means odds of miscarriage are low, even with the IUD?"

Doc nodded again. "And a pregnancy would be considered very high risk. With the IUD. In fact, I'd like to do a scan to make sure we're not looking at an ectopic."

Tess nodded. Then, to her horror, started to cry.

Doc, not much for touching people, put an arm around her. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. It's stupid. I shouldn't - It's just a shock. I expected you to tell me to take a multi-vitamin and eat more greens and now I have to-" She shook her head and Doc reached over to snag the box of Kleenex for her. "Thanks."

"I've been there. I was ten weeks along. Gave myself an ultrasound and found it. There was. . . a lot of cursing."

That made Tess chuckle a little. "Yeah. I would imagine." She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. "Okay. Okay, let's check for the ectopic. Then I gotta figure out what I'm going to say to Eli." Though she had a pretty good idea of what he'd want to do.

The ultrasound was awkward but uneventful. One normal-looking embryo, implanted right where it should be. "No ectopic is good. Your IUD is still in place. With the location of the IUD, removing it is probably very likely to cause a miscarriage." She hesitated, then added, "It's measuring just over six weeks so if you choose to terminate, it'd be a straight forward procedure. You'd get a shot and probably want to take a few days off work to deal with the side effects. I can mark you out as on medical rest and the rest of them won't question it. They're scared of me."

Tess smiled. "I did know that." She sighed and scrubbed a hand over her face. No more crying. "I'll talk to Eli today and let you know by tomorrow."

"We'll support you guys, no matter what you decide to do."

"Thank you," she said softly. "I appreciate it."

Doc squeezed her shoulder, and sent her on her way.

Eli's schedule was blocked out until 2pm, which meant she had three hours to occupy before she could talk to him. She made a note on his schedule so FRIDAY would send him to her when he had a break. Then she huddled on her couch in her pajamas and did research. Lunch was and apple and peanut butter because he stomach was upset. She was pretty sure it was either nerves or psychosomatic, but it didn't help her current mood at all.

He came through the door at 2:04, looking like he'd just come from the gym—and possibly sprinted up here. "Hey. You okay?"

She smiled, heart aching a little. He really was a good guy. She was so lucky to have him. And she really hoped this didn't do anything to damage it. "I'm okay. But you should sit, we need to talk about something."

He came around the couch and sat next to her. He reached out and took her hand. "What did Doc find?" he asked quietly.

For a brief moment she considered some sort of way to ease into it. Brace him. But if Doc had done that to her she'd have been annoyed. Better to come out with it. So, just as quiet as he had spoken, she told him, "She said I'm not sick I'm pregnant."

Slowly he turned to look straight ahead, and blew out a slow breath. "Well. . .shit."

"Yeah," she said softly. "The IUD is still in place. The hormones are supposed to prevent ovulation but there is a very small percentage of times it doesn't work. Apparently we're part of that .7 percent."

He bent over, elbows on his knees and head in his hands. "That's probably my fault."

"Doc seemed to think so," she agreed. Twisting her hands up, she took a deep breath. "I know how you feel about having kids now. So I'm guessing you would prefer not to keep it. So I'm going to absolve you from having to say it and tell you I think abortion is the right answer."

"It's a sin. Maybe an unforgivable one." He rubbed his eyes. "But I can't. . ." He shook his head. "My sister and I made a deal. This fucked up gene we carry dies with me."

She wanted to rub his back, or maybe take his hand. But it seemed like a good time to give him space. "Would it help or hurt to know that's not the only reason?"

He turned his head toward her, though he didn't actually look up. "I like information."

"Medically it would be considered a high risk pregnancy. Removing the IUD has a high chance of miscarriage. Leaving it in there is a higher chance, plus dangerous to the baby. It would almost certainly be premature, which, again, would be high risk." Those were facts. They were easy to rattle off, like any other medical facts. The rest of her reasoning was a lot harder. "And, I just. . . I'm not ready for a baby. I don't think we, as a couple, are ready for a baby. Especially not a premature, high risk one." She squeezed her fingers. "I don't believe it's a sin. The only way I can balance my faith in God with my medical training is to believe He wouldn't give us knowledge if he didn't want us to use it. Abortives and abortive techniques have existed as far back as we have records for."

He took another slow breath. "Okay."

She couldn't tell if that had made him feel better or not. "Doc can do it here. I'll just take a couple days off to deal with the side effects. She'll cover for me with the others, so we don't have to have the rest of them in our business."

"That. . . would be good." He sat up and reached his arm out for her. "Come here."

Relieved, she scooted over and tucked under his arm, leaning her head on his shoulder. His arm wrapped around her and she immediately felt a little better. "It'll be okay," she said softly.

"This is probably the most awkward time to say this, but I love you."

Tess blinked, then laughed a little. "You beat me to it." She lifted her head and kissed his cheek. "I love you, too."

He pulled her into his lap so he could hold her in both arms. "I still think you're crazy to be with me, but I thank the Lord for you every day."

"I think you're worth it," she told him. "I think I'm lucky to have found you. You put up with my neuroses and take good care of me. Watch my boring science shows with me."

"Well, I need something to put me to sleep."

If he was joking, it couldn't be that bad. "There's one about black holes on Thursday. I don't think it would be conducive to sleeping, though."

"This week I surrender total control of the remote."

He was the best caretaker she could have asked for. She went in the next morning and got her shot from Doc, along with a page of instructions. How much bleeding was normal, what other symptoms to expect, when to start worrying. They set an appointment to go back in two weeks to discuss better birth control options. The odds of this happening _again_ were vanishingly small. But she didn't think either Eli or herself would trust the IUD again.

Since she'd already been acting under the weather it was simple enough to tell the others she was sick and possibly contagious, so they kept their distance. Doc even minimized Eli's schedule so he'd be able to take care of her.

She was nauseous and crampy and bleed like crazy. She spent three days on her couch, under a quilt, watching everything on Netflix that even remotely appealed. The first day Eli fetched her food and tea and rubbed her back. But for the most part, she didn't need fussing. Just company.

Doc gave her some painkillers and she napped on the couch in the afternoons. Instead of going back to his place, Eli decided to clean her apartment for her. By the time she woke up she could probably have done surgery on her kitchen floor.

"You clean while bored," she said. "This is a good feature in a boyfriend."

"It's the military in me," he said. "I can't help it."

"I consider myself pretty tidy, but you put me to shame." She pulled open the fridge door to peruse her options. "I think the worst of it is over. Probably gonna wanna eat steak for a week or two."

"I will go out and procure you and entire cow if you wish."

It was said with such sincerity she had to laugh. "Thank you, honey." Nothing in the fridge appealed, so she closed it and turned to him, tucking into his chest. "How are you doing?"

"All right. Worried about you. Feeling strangely sad."

"Yeah. Me too." It was a relief, at least, that he was feeling it too. She cuddled closer and he rubbed her back, at just the right pressure and speed. "I've been looking through the stuff Doc sent me on birth control. Sounds like the sub-dermal implant she and Mrs. Rogers used is the best bet, possibly paired with a diaphragm or sponge. Alternatively, she offered to do full fertility work ups on the both of us and concoct some sort of specialized plan. But that could take a couple of months."

"Couple years ago I asked for a vasectomy. She told me Steve tried and it just grew back."

"Apparently, trying to figure out how to avoid a baby at 50 was a bit of trial and error." Doc had sent her an email detailing the ins and outs of a long term relationship with a super soldier. It had been a little more information than she needed about her boss's sex life. But ultimately useful. "I'm a little younger than either of them were, and possibly just naturally more fertile."

"I wish. . ." he trailed off, not finishing the sentence. Instead he shook his head.

She leaned back to look at him. "What is it?"

"I wish we could some day."

"Have a baby?" He nodded and she ran her hands along his arms. "There are options we could discuss."

He shook his head. "I can't pass this on."

"I know," she assured him. "But there's adoption. There's donor sperm. We could even do IVF and select only female embryos to implant. She'd be a carrier, but it would buy us another generation to find a cure."

"It isn't fair to leave a kid with no Dad."

She rubbed his arms again, because she didn't know what to say to that. "We have time," she said quietly. "To figure it out."

He swallowed hard. "I don't want to consume the best years of your life and then leave you with a crazy dude to look after."

"I love you," she told him. "So much. I know it's going to be hard. But no one gets any guarantees. People get sick, people die. We have dangerous jobs. And I would rather enjoy our time together than dread the end of it."

He inhaled slowly, and let a shaky breath back out. Then he gave voice to something she'd expected, but they never, ever talked about. "I'm terrified of it."

"Oh. Honey." She wrapped her arms around him, drawing his head down to her shoulder. "It's okay to be scared," she whispered. "I'm scared, too."

He held onto her. "I don't want to drag you down with me. But I don't want to be alone."

She stroked the back of his head. "Let me make my own decisions," she told him. "I'm going in with eyes wide open." His arms tightened and she felt him nod. It occurred to her that she might be the only person on earth he ever showed any weakness to.

"I know it's hard for you to hope," she whispered. "So I will do it for you. I'll hope Doc finds an answer. And we'll have a long, happy life together."

Eli rocked her a moment, and then straightened. "Thank you."

"Any time. I mean it. You don't need to be strong for me all the time."

He turned her face up and kissed her. "I love you so much."

"I love you back." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Come lay down with me for a while."

"Nothing would make me happier."

It occurred to her, as they lay curled up in bed, that they'd made some implied promises to each other. That this was real and it was long term—as long as they had, anyway.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your comments on the previous chapter and for keeping a civil tone even when disagreeing. We both appreciate it very much.
> 
> In return we're just gonna fuck everybody up. (cackles and runs away)

Tess went back to work the next week, merrily bitching about the extra training they were making her do to for missing sessions. As far as Eli could tell, no one knew why she'd really been out, not even the Grownups. Nat gave him an odd little smile and pat after one of their sessions, which made him wonder if their was some weird sisterhood sense he could never fully comprehend. Could have been his imagination, too. Nat was inscrutable that way.

Life went on. He and Tess still spent their evenings and nights together. He noticed she spent a lot of time frowning at the data pad that held his family's files on it. As if by staring at it the answers would reveal themselves. Sometimes he made a point of distracting her, so she wouldn't go too deep down the rabbit hole. But sometimes he let her glare. Maybe the answer was in the files somewhere. Maybe you needed a personal stake in it to see it.

In February, just as he was starting to wonder if he should do something for Valentine's, they got a mission.

"Sokovian border," Kate read, peering at the arial photos they'd been provided. "Near the Black Sea. Looks like an old fortress or something."

"I love fighting in castles," Cassie piped up, fiddling with her wrist computer. "Lots of nooks and crannies."

Apparently, there was a lot of suspicious activity and high energy and heat signatures, indication a possible weapons plant hidden under fortress. They had orders to go in and end production, but any means necessary.

"Are we blowing up historical sites again?" Kamala asked, skimming her own file. "I hate that."

"I'm hoping no," Kate said. "But I can't make promises. God knows what's down there."

Nate leaned over, pointing out something to Kate. "There's an actual watchtower for you to sit in. That's gotta make you a little happy."

"It does, but I'm keeping it inside to maintain my leaderly decorum."

"I'll be happy for you, since I'll be flying you up there." He tilted his head. "We should get you like a little jet pack. Hey, Ada?"

"I've tried, but been unable to manufacture something Kate didn't insist impeded her bow draw," was the reply.

"I'm fine with getting a lift from my teammates," Kate told him.

"Can I just state that I would love a jetpack?" Kamala said.

"It would only explode," Ada replied. 

Kamala gave an absolutely hilarious pout before sulking onto the jet.

Ada finished tinkering with Tess's suit and gave them the all clear. It had become a little ritual, all of them shooting the shit and going over the mission details while she fine tuned the suits and Cassie's shrinking tech. Tess had confided in him it was mostly nitpicking and not necessary, but it seemed to make Ada happy to send them off in the best shape possible.

"You think she'll ever come in the field with us?" Peter—who was sitting next to him—asked as they took off.

Eli shook his head. "Ada? She's awful young."

"She's two years older than I was."

"And that was a terrible idea."

"She has a suit," Tess said. "Literally in a 'break glass in case of emergency' case. It's purple and green."

Eli laughed. "Of course it is."

Kate spoke up from the other side of the jet. "I've been told Ada is off limits until she's out of school. Barring something potentially world ending. Hence the emergency suit."

"One of those, we get everybody," Cassie said. "Wouldn't that be a sight to see?"

"We will almost certainly be too busy to appreciate it," Nate said. "But, yeah. They'd make movies about that. Assuming we won."

"If we lost we'd be dead," Eli said. "That's not a situation of retreat or surrender."

"I meant more if we lost there'd be no one left to make the movies."

"Probably that, too."

Kate put her file down and stretched out her legs. "I order you guys to think of something more pleasant to talk about."

There was a moment of silence, then Nate said, "I met a woman who told me her life goal is to sleep with all of the male Avengers."

Kate wrinkled her nose. "That is _not_ what I meant."

"Did you sleep with her?" Kamala asked, sounding both horrified and fascinated.

"Well. . . yeah."

"Wait," Peter said. "Is her name Ashlyn? Short blond hair?"

Nate made a face. "Are you telling me I was second?"

From the cockpit, Wyatt called, "You were third."

"Okay, this is gross," Cassie said.

There was another moment of silence. Then Tess said, "It's a pity to come so close to her life's goal and fail."

"I told her she was tilting at windmills like six months ago," Peter said. "Eli had that whole—now clearly bullshit—I Don't Date White Girls thing."

Eli cleared his throat. "There's an exception to every rule."

Fortunately, Tess looked amused. "I _am_ exceptional."

He turned and looked down at her. "You certainly are."

"This is exactly the kind of high quality sap I was looking for," Kate said.

"We have endless amounts," Tess assured her. "Just say the word."

It was cold and snowy in Sokovia, the sun just rising when their jet landed. This was the sort of fight best done in daylight.

They huddled up around Kate, who was holding a rough map of to fortress layout. "Okay. Intel said there was minimal patrols - probably to keep from drawing suspicion. Kamala, take Cassie, do a quick run around the perimeter and call out any guards for Eli and I to take care of. Then the two of you work on getting us an entrance. Nate and Tess, go high, make sure they don't have any drones or air support waiting to surprise us. Peter, keep to the trees till they give the all clear. If the ladies can't find us a good door, we'll regroup at the western corner here and discuss making a door or going over the wall." She folded the paper and glanced around. "Everyone good?"

"Yes, ma'am," Eli said, with a chorus of nods.

Nate held out his arm to Kate, whom he'd fly up to her perch. "My lady?"

"Such a gentleman." She gave the others a little salute before wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

"Good luck," Tess told Eli, snapping her faceplate into place.

"Kick ass," he replied.

She laughed a little, taking off. 

Cassie shrank down and hopped on Kamala's shoulder, who promptly blurred away. Eli followed at a slower pace, taking note when Kamala started calling out the location of the guards. Kate came on the comm, "I'm in place. Taking the northern most one. Eli, looks like you'll stumble on yours in a a dozen yards or so."

"I'll keep my eyes peeled," he told her.

After that it was the usual comm chatter. He and Kate took down the perimeter guards. Kamala found an entrance and Cassie was able to pick the lock.

"Go in with the girls," Kate told him. "Try to get down to the catacombs. Peter, the flyers and I will make some noise up here and try to clear the way for you."

"I ain't exactly stealthy, you know."

"Look, if you don't _want_ me to lessen the number of heads you need to smash I can just sit up here with Tess and do our nails."

"What about me?" Nate asked.

"You will fan us and feed us grapes."

"Make your noise, I'll do my smashing, and maybe there will be grapes later."

He took point, with Cassie and Kamala behind him. The walls were stone and cold to the touch. Housekeeping was definitely not high on the arms manufacturer check list. He was glad Cassie wasn't small at the moment, he really didn't want a running commentary on the shit hiding in the corners. 

They reached a staircase and headed down. Based on the shouting and running footsteps above them, the distraction was working. They did run into some armed guys trying to go help, but with surprise on their side it was easy to go through them.

They had just hit what appeared to be the lowest level when Kate said, "Shit, I'm made," over the comms.

"Somebody go get her," Eli said.

"I'm pinned!" Nate yelled back.

Tess was in full Doc mode when she replied, "On it. Kate, coming up from the south."

"I see you."

For one, brief instant it sounded like everything would be fine, more or less. Then there was the sound of an explosion over the comm that had him and both girls flinching. Eli couldn't follow what happened for a few seconds after that, there was too much shouting and feedback and ringing in his ear.

When he got his head together all he could hear was Nate cursing.

"Kate? You okay?" There was no reply. "Tess?"

Still nothing.

"Nate what the hell happened?" Cassie asked.

"They hit Kate's tower with an RPG," he said, sounding vaguely panicked. "She went flying. I think Tess caught her, but she was awful close to the blast. They both went down, I can't see them."

He felt a thread of panic. "Go find them!"

"I repeat, pinned."

"I'll look," Peter called. "Gonna take me a minute."

Eli ground his teeth, and seriously considered going back upstairs. But they had a fight to finish. "No," he said finally. "Keep in it. Wyatt?"

"Listening in horror," he replied.

"Get in the air, tell me what you see."

"You want me to put the jet up where somebody's got RPG's?"

"Are you a fighter pilot or not?"

After a beat, he said, "Okay, but you explain it to Barton if they scratch the finish."

Cassie and Kamala were watching him with dual expressions of expectant worry. "You want me to run back up and help?" Kamala asked quietly.

Sending her up was intensely appealing. She could check the whole forest in a few minutes. But these guys clearly had fire power and any of them alone was vulnerable. "We finish what we came down here to do and then regroup. Let's just. . . do it fast."

"Fast is my specialty," she assured him.

They came across more people then, and it was a bit of a blessing. If he got lost in the fight, he didn't have to worry. He'd heard tale of Steve Rogers' ability turn that off during a battle—so much so that he addressed his own wife by her last name. Steve had tried to explain it to Eli a hundred times, but he'd never mastered it. Kate could do it. One of many reasons why she was in charge.

She was down right now. So _he_ was in charge.

They found the factory room that seemed to be the source of manufacturing. Cassie gleefully got to work sabotaging machinery while he and Kamala took a fast inventory of the stuff that was boxed and ready to ship. A list of buyers would be a list of new leads in this ever-expanding group.

It wasn't as distracting as fighting, though, and the continued lack of response from Tess and Kate gnawed at him.

Then there was an odd cracking and popping on the line and Tess's voice came through, "Can y'all hear me?"

"I can hear you," he said, figuring he'd just punch anyone who mocked him for the emotion in his voice.

He could hear her sigh of relief. "Oh, good. My suit got banged up, I lost comms. This is Kate's earpiece and it's a bit worse for the wear, too."

"How is she?" he asked.

"She's . . . stable. She's unconscious. I have her on a back board." She seemed to realize she wasn't updating another medical professional, because on her next sentence her tone softened. "There's no immediately life threatening injury, but the sooner I can get her home the better and I'll need help loading her on the jet."

"I'm coming to you," Wyatt said immediately.

"Even better. Hang on, I think I have some flares."

They sounded like they had it handled. Much as Eli still wanted to rush up there. "We'll finish up down here and meet you at the extraction site."

"Got it, Boss," Wyatt replied.

Cassie finished her sabotage and appeared at his side. "They got enough unstable chemicals here I can rig up an explosive, if you want. Tricky part will be timing, but I think I can buy us up to five minutes."

"Build something Kamala can set off."

"I can do that." She darted off to mad science and he and Kamala finished their cataloging. Then Kamala got a crash course in chemistry and Cassie shrank down to ride Eli's shoulder. "It's faster this way."

"Like my own personal Devil on my shoulder."

"I'll own that."

He started for the stairs. "Outside team, we're gonna blow the place. Start disengaging if you can. Nate, give Peter a ride. Once you're clear I'll give Kamala the word."

Nate sounded uncharacteristically stressed when he said, "I'll be happy to put this place in the rearview."

"I hear ya," Eli said. 

"I've got Kate and Tess," Wyatt said. "Heading to the rendezvous."

"I managed to disengage," Peter reported. "Waiting on my ride."

"One sec," Nate replied. Maybe thirty seconds later, Eli hit the hallway they'd come in through and Nate confirmed he had Peter and they were on their way to extraction.

Wyatt had the engines on, requiring them to duck around them as they boarded. Tess looked up when he came up the ramp, and for a moment their eyes locked. She had a streak of blood running down from a cut on her forehead.

Kate was strapped down to the medical bed attached to one side of the jet. Tess had told him once she could technically perform minor surgery on it, barring major turbulence. It didn't look like any surgery was happening right now, fortunately. Kate was unconscious, strapped down with an IV coming out of her right arm, and Tess was very carefully wrapping her left arm onto its own board with what looked like miles of gauze. Some of her uniform was singed and he could see more injured skin than not. But she was alive. All of them were alive.

"Is anyone else hurt?" Tess asked as they finished filing in.

"I'm fine as long as I don't blow myself up," Kamala said over the comm. "How are we looking?"

"Good to go," Eli said. "Let her rip." Then he turned toward Nate, whose voice he hadn't liked the sound of. "You need Doc?" he asked.

He'd retracted his faceplate, so Eli got to see the look of confusion that flitted over his face. He seemed to get his meaning pretty quick because he shook his head. "Nah. Probably have a chat with Lani when we get back, though."

That probably would be a good idea for everyone. In the distance there was a deep boom, and then a rapid series of smaller explosions. Kamala materialized on the ramp like she come out of thin air. He hit the button to close it. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Wyatt said, and the jet lifted.

There were a few moments of tense silence as they climbed to altitude. Then everyone looked at Tess expectantly.

She chewed her lip and glanced at the various monitors. "She's stable. I was concerned about some spinal or head injuries but she woke up long enough to answer a few questions and wiggle her feet so I think she's okay. Currently she's sedated for pain. Multiple broken bones, lots of abrasions and soft tissue damage. Her left arm is broken in several places and will need surgery to set. Once we're up I'll contact the Tower and have Doc get the OR prepped for our arrival. That's all I can tell you right now. She was very lucky, considering how close to the blast we were and how hard the landing was."

"She's lucky you were here," Peter said.

Tess gave a little smile and nod. Then her professional demeanor seemed to slip and she stepped forward, reaching for Eli.

He met her halfway and wrapped her in his arms. He probably wasn't supposed to, but he didn't give a shit. She was still wearing most of her suit, so it wasn't the most comfortable of hugs. But he found he didn't give a shit about that, either.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, hand cupping the back of his head.

"No," he whispered back. "But I'm better now than I was before."

Nodding in understanding, she hugged him harder. In a minute, she'd probably need to check on Kate or take off her suit or see about that cut on her forehead. But for now he was going to hold onto her and try to forget what it felt like when he thought she might be gone.


	11. Chapter 11

There was a state-of-the-art medical facility in the Tower. Small, but built exactly to Amanda's needs, and constantly updated. Pretty much all of them had been a patient at some point over the years. It was where she'd operated on Bucky, where Steve spent a month in a coma, where she fished bullets out of Clint's leg, patched up a hundred of Sharon's petty injuries, and done ultrasounds for all the babies that the team had in New York. It was where she'd saved Tony from a heart attack that should have killed him.

It took nerves of steel to operate on people you loved, and Steve had always admired that tremendously. Today, she'd insisted Tess come into the operating room with her—because she had to learn. Steve and everyone else sat vigil with the waiting room.

Lani had come up early and the various team member were taking turns talking with her in private. Eli seemed uninterested, sitting in one of the comfortable chairs lining the room and watching the door. Steve knew that particular look of stoicism well, and went to sit beside him.

After a few minutes, Eli said, "I don't know how you did this, man."

It was a relief he wouldn't have to pry it out of him. "It's not easy. It never got easy."

"I was a fuckin' heartbeat away from just charging upstairs and blowing the whole op."

Steve nodded. He'd been there. More than once. "But you didn't. And your team did what they needed to do. And everyone came home."

Eli sighed. "Maybe I should start doing that thing you do where you use everyone's last names."

"It helps with compartmentalizing it. Nate is the guy you share a beer with. Richards is the one you send into a fire fight. It doesn't make losing them any easier, but it helps in the moment." Steve paused. "It's not a flaw or weakness to have trouble with it. It doesn't make you a bad leader to want to go save someone you love and damn the rest of the world."

"Kate is either better at compartmentalizing or just has a better lid on it than I do. She doesn't flinch. I do. I expect that's part of why you put her in charge."

"It was a part of it," he agreed. "And, to be honest, I don't think it's something you teach. That's the way Kate's built. Doesn't mean she cares about any of you less. She's just found a way to work around it." Steve thought some of it was the sniper in her. And some of it was because she'd once had a mission that meant more to her than anything else, including her own life. And once you'd been there, you could tap into it again, if you needed to. "But you can step up when you need to and today you needed to. I'm proud of you."

He saw the ghost of a smile on Eli's face. "Thanks."

"Anytime you want to talk, I'm here."

"I'm not sure I ever really _want_ to talk. Sometimes things come out of my mouth anyway."

Steve chuckled a little, then figured he had nothing to lose and offered, "You could try seeing Lani. She got Clint to talk a time or two, you should be a piece of cake."

"The government was fond of tossing shrinks at me. All they ever wanted to talk about is my impending dementia."

"She'll talk about that, if you want. Or stuff like we just talked about. Or how annoying your trainers are. Tess. The weather. Lani's not like any army shrink I ever knew."

"I will give it some consideration," he said.

That was almost certainly the best he was going to get, so Steve let it drop. "These waits can get interminable. We need a distraction. Anyone know where to get a deck of cards?"

From across the room, Nat said, "You are such an old man."

"I have never made that a secret."

"I'll get some," Kamala said. Nate leaned over and opened the door, and the blur swept out, and back in. "Here," she said when she materialized in front of Steve.

He spent some time teaching them gin rummy and hearts. Cassie showed them some card tricks her dad had taught her. Between that and the color commentary from Nat and Bucky, it killed the time until Amanda appeared in the doorway.

"Card games? Really? Clearly I need to make Tony put some arcade games in here."

Eli stood up. "How is she?"

"Kate is fine. There was no internal bleeding or spinal injuries. She has several cracked ribs and some burns and abrasions on her left side. Her left arm was shattered. We grafted in some of Cho's second skin to speed the healing process. I'll monitor and we'll see in a few days if I need to go back in and add some hardware. She's going to be sleeping most of the night, the nurses and I will monitor. You guys can visit her in the morning."

There was a sigh of relief in the room. Then Eli asked, "Where's Tess?"

"Getting her head stitched up by Tiffani, she'll be out in a couple minutes."

He hesitated, then took a step forward. "Can I go in?"

She smiled. "Yes, come on, I'll show you the way. The rest of you go get some sleep, Doc's orders."

Steve squeezed Amanda's shoulder on his way out. The elevator was crowded but quiet on the way back up, everyone getting off and making their way back to their apartments. Sharon was on the couch when he got to his, Maggie sprawled across her lap asleep. "She woke up and wouldn't go back to bed without you."

He sighed and sat on the other end of the couch. Lately she'd taken to crawling into their bed at night. "Kate's okay," he said. "Though she trashed her left arm, which might be more of a problem than anyone is thinking about."

Sharon made a soft noise. "That will be difficult for her to deal with."

Steve reached out to rub Maggie's foot. "Clint's in Wakanda, he's on his way home."

"How's everyone else holding up?"

"They're rattled. There was a stretch of a fight the rest of them thought they could be dead."

"I assume Lani made her rounds?" At his nod, she asked, "Eli?"

"Worse than the rest of them. And still stuck in Cap Mode."

She blew out a breath and rubbed Maggie's back in little circles. "Going to be a rough few days around here, huh?"

"It has been every time somebody's taken a hit. We've been through it." It never got easier.

"We haveΩ." She reached over and took his hand. "Ready to go to bed?"

He looked down at his daughter. "Think we can get her back into her own bed?"

"I think it's worth a try. We really should break this habit."

"And tonight I really don't feel like a chaperone."

Sharon smiled and nodded. "Well, let's give it a try, then."

*

Given the choice, Tess probably would have chosen shower and bed ten minutes earlier over getting her head stitched. Even if it had meant a particularly ironic facial scar. But Doc and Tiffani hadn't really given her a choice. After stripping out of her surgery gear she'd been promptly steered into a chair and Tiffani had gotten to work.

When Doc reappeared a few minutes later with Eli at her heels, she didn't think she'd ever been so happy to see someone in her life.

He held out his arms for her without a word.

Tiff snipped the last stitch and Tess lurched out of her chair, throwing herself at him. He lifted her off her feet and she buried her face in his neck. "I gotcha, I gotcha," he said, words she felt as much as heard.

Doc reached over and nudged her head a little so she could tape a bandage over the stitches. "You're free to go," she said when she was done. "I don't want to see you in here tomorrow unless it's to visit Kate. You deserve some time off."

"Thanks," Tess said, voice muffled.

"I will see she rests," Eli said. "And take very good care of her."

"I know you will." 

He shifted his arms so Tess was on her feet and they started for the door. Then Doc called after them, "Make sure you let her take care of you, too."

"I'm fine," he called back immediately.

They walked in silence to the elevator and up to the apartment floor. "Yours or mine?" she asked him.

"Whichever you want, you're the wounded one." He was holding her hand almost uncomfortably tight.

"I have clothes at your place, we can go there." She nudged him lightly in that direction. "I washed up for surgery, so you can shower."

"Okay," he said. She could see him square his shoulder before opening the door. "Do you need anything? Something to eat?"

She knew she should probably eat something, but fatigue had stolen her appetite. However, she was pretty sure if _she_ didn't eat then he wouldn't eat and he almost certainly needed food. "I could probably do with a snack."

He bent to kiss her temple. "Sit, I'll make us some food." He went into the kitchen, pulling things from cabinets like he was going to make Thanksgiving dinner. She watched him a moment, heart aching a little bit thinking about how his voice had sounded when she got back on comms.

It had been a rather terrifying few minutes. Catching Kate and getting caught in the blast wave. The dizzying fall down into the woods that had knocked her comms out and left her shaken and disoriented. Then desperately trying to figure out the extent of Kate's wounds and how on earth she was going to get back with the team. She could only imagine how long it had felt for Eli and the others, not knowing if they were alive or dead.

She joined him in the kitchen and gently tugged the pot he was holding out of his hands. "Hey," she said softly. "I'm okay."

He looked at the pot more than her, and replied, "I'm not."

"I can tell." She ran her hands up his arms. "What do you need? You want me to cook something? You want to shower? Go to bed?"

"No I. . . you got blown up. Let me get you food, you should be resting."

Her desire to argue with him warred with the knowledge that taking care of her might help him. "Okay. But how about we put the pot away and do something simple? Sandwiches and fruit or something."

He nodded, and then he even let her help him put together the bread and meat and cheese. He kept reaching out to touch her, like he wanted a reminder or reassurance. She ate one handed, holding his without comment. Despite her lack of appetite, the food made her feel a bit better. He let her ply him with a second sandwich before they cleaned up and she steered him out of the kitchen.

 Do you want a shower?" she asked him. He appeared to still be in the under layer of his uniform, but she didn't know if he'd taken an opportunity to clean up while she was in surgery.

"Might be a good idea. I probably smell."

" _I_ wasn't going to say anything." She wove her fingers with his and tugged him gently in the direction of the bathroom. "I shouldn't get the bandage wet, so I'll skip washing my hair. But I'll keep you company, if you want."

He smiled a little sheepishly. "I have a strange desire not to let you out of my sight."

"I don't think that's strange at all. Besides, I just wanted to see you all naked and soapy. My intentions are not at all pure."

He reached out and pulled her close. "I love you, you know that?"

"I do." She nuzzled his shoulder, rubbing his back. "I love you too. I'm sorry I scared you."

"You did your job. I'm proud of you."

Doc had said something similar. She'd probably overanalyze it later, but for now she believed it. She'd done everything she could to save Kate and minimize injury. That she hadn't managed to prevent _any_ injury wasn't a failing, but just the reality of how bad it had been.

"Thank you," she said softly. "I'm proud of you, too."

"For not losing my shit?'

"For getting the mission done."

That got him to smile. "Steve apparently thinks so, too."

She smiled back and kissed him. "Looks like we're the star pupils today. We should enjoy our vacation."

"Let me shower and then we can get a little sleep."

"Yes." She kissed him again, lightly, then tucked her hand into his as they headed into the bathroom. They were both too sore and exhausted to fool around, but she still enjoyed watching him shower. She had no idea what she'd don't to deserve someone who looked _that_ good naked, but she was enjoying the hell out of it.

They scrubbed each other's backs and kissed a bit. Eli still seemed determined to keep in physical contact with her as much as possible. After their shower, they used every towel he had to dry off, before collapsing into bed together.

"Sleep well, Eli," she murmured as he curled up around her. 

"As long as you're here, I always do."

She smiled and covered his arm with hers where it wrapped around her waist. Together, they fell asleep.

Tess slept the sleep of the physically and emotionally exhausted. Eli was a little restless, and woke her a couple of times with his tossing and turning. But after a few murmured words and cuddles he settled again.

FRIDAY had turned off all of their alarms, so they slept till midmorning, when sunlight had reached the bed. Tess's urge to pee quickly outweighed her desire to stay in bed, so she wiggled out from under Eli's arm and went to do her business.

The bandage on her head had come loose, so she gently peeled it off. There was a bruise blooming around the wound and a few others on her back and arms, but nothing worth a trip back to medical. She felt pretty good, all things considered. So she headed back to bed.

Eli had apparently stretched out in her absence, managing to take up the entirety of the bed. He had a tendency to conquer as much of the bed as possible and she tucked herself in the space left over. This time there wasn't even enough space to tuck, so she perched on the edge of the bed and stroked a hand down his back in an effort to stir him.

"Mmm," he rumbled. But he didn't move.

Oh, that voice. She leaned down and kissed his shoulder. Then she stroked him again, hand slipping under the tangle of blankets at his waist.

He turned his head towards her now. "Good morning."

"Morning." She trailed her fingers along the dip of his waist. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I want you to come back in this bed with me."

"But there's no room," she teased.

He chuckled and rolled onto his side, even lifting the covers. "Better?"

Tucking her legs under the blankets she settled next to him. "Much." He tucked the covers around her, draping his arm around her. "Even better."

He rubbed her back and pulled her closer. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," she said honestly. He was very warm and solid against her. Familiar now, after almost six months together. Twining an arm around his shoulders, she kissed his jaw. "Couple of bumps and bruises, but the suit took good care of me."

"Mmm. I'll have to thank Ada."

"I'm sure she'll have a new and improved one for me next time. She likes revisions."

"I'd wrap you in a vibranium tank if she'd let me."

She didn't doubt that for a second. "That might impede my ability to do my job." She stroked a hand up and down the back of his neck. "I'm all right," she reminded him before leaning in and kissing him.

His arms tightened, and she could hear his breathing speed up. He met the kiss with more intensity than she expected. She moaned softly into his mouth, kissing him back with everything she had. His hands roamed her back and she all but purred, arching a little into his touch. Then he broke the kiss and sighed. "You're all beat up. . ."

"Mmm, endorphins will help the healing process." She wiggled deliberately against him. "All those good, happy hormones."

He slid his hand down her back and over her ass on his way to tugging one of her legs up. "I love it when you get all doctor-like."

"Especially when I'm advocating for more sex?" she asked, hooking her leg over his hip.

"I don't deserve you."

Touching his jaw lightly, she shook her head. "That's not true. We're just perfect for each other."

He kissed her again, stroking his fingers sown the underside of her thigh. "Sounds nice."

She shuddered a little at the touch, closing her eyes. "I love you."

"I love you," he replied, fingers slowly moving over her skin. "Every inch of you."

Her breath came a little faster, anticipation tightening her skin. He seemed to explore every inch of her leg he could reach, but never close enough to where she really wanted his touch. "Please," she whispered.

"Patience," he whispered back, but his hand dipped between her legs. The touch was feather light, and a slow exploration as if he didn't have her body memorized. She moaned, a helpless little sound, and tried to relax into his teasing. It was damn near impossible, though. He kept his touches and strokes light and random, winding her up. When his mouth found hers she cupped the back of his head and kissed him, letting him taste her growing desperation. 

He mumbled something, but she didn't catch it. He found her clit with his fingertips and pressed a lazy circle around it. Her body rocked almost involuntarily, wanting to get closer to him, wanting to feel more. He knew exactly how to take her apart, exact what pressure and pace she liked best. Clearly, he wasn't done teasing yet, because he kept up that light, slow circle, around and around. Pleasure built and built but she couldn't tip over the edge.

She had to break the kiss to pant, to try to catch her breath. "Please," she whispered again. "Please, please, please."

He kissed the spot where her neck met her shoulder. "Baby, what do you need?" he asked, though he damn well knew.

Tess had never been much of a talker during sex. It wasn't a hang up, per se, but she wasn't comfortable using most of the words people usually used during dirty talk. She was always vaguely concerned she was going to whip out medical terms and ruin the mood. But Eli liked hearing her talk, liked pushing her to the point she would beg or coax him to do more. And she'd found she rather liked being pushed there.

She clutched at him, fingers digging into his back. "I need to come," she whimpered. "Please let me come."

She felt his teeth against her skin. "Can I fuck you?" Sometimes he liked to talk back.

Her whole body seemed to throb at the words, the image they painted in her head. Her sex clenched in anticipation. "Yes," she breathed. "Yes, please." She'd barely finished the words when he hitched her leg higher and she felt his cock push inside her. He slid his hand down over her ass and spread it so he could hold her and move her closer. 

God he felt good. Stretching and filling her like they were made to fit together. When he moved his hips, sliding out then back in, the friction was intense, sending a shudder through her. She kissed him, messy and distracted, before dropping little kisses on his throat and chest. His strokes were deep, but she could feel him holding back, trying to be gentle with her. Part of him was probably still worried about her bumps and bruises. But it wasn't enough, she needed more.

So despite the fact she couldn't recall the last time - if ever - she'd sworn, she put her mouth next to his ear and growled, "You promised to fuck me."

She could actually feel the words hit him, a shudder passing through his body. The next thrust was harder, rougher, almost out of control. She gasped out a, "Yes," encouragement and plea in one, then wrapped her arms and leg around him. His hand on her ass grew bossy, angling her so he could get deeper, harder. It was fast and wild and just what she needed.

Pleasure built to a critical level, then snapped. She gave a sound that was almost a sob at the first wave hit her, then buried her face in his shoulder. Her nails dug into his back, raking the skin, and she shook and arched, grinding against him. It might have been the most intense orgasm of her life. For a few moments she saw stars. She was dimly aware of him coming not long after her, his grip on her almost painful as he held her still. They hung on to each other and rode it out together.

They lay tangled around each other for a long time, hearts pounding, breathing hard. Tess nuzzled her head under his chin, holding him tightly. She couldn't really form words, so she just drifted, thinking how much she loved him and how grateful she was they were both safe.

Eventually he whispered, "I'm not used to being afraid of things."

She stroked his back. "Having things means the risk of losing them. Doesn't mean it's better to be alone."

"I'm going to forget you," he said, his voice catching. "One day you'll walk into the room and I won't know who you are."

Tears pricked the back of her eyes. "I know. And that scares me, too. But I'll remind you. I'll show you pictures and tell you stories. And I'll remember you. For the rest of my life."

He nuzzled her hair. "This is what I mean when I say I don't deserve you."

She smiled and squeezed him as hard as she could. "We both lucked out, if you ask me."

Tess knew he didn't really believe that. But he held on and he nodded. Right now that was enough.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, just in case: Language warning, Eli uses the N-word at the very end of this chapter.

It was a tremendously shitty week. They were all varying levels of shaken up. Kate had taken the news of her messed up arm better than expected. She was stoic and grumpy, as was her way, so it was hard to talk to her. She said she didn't want anyone to fuss, which was also her way, but left the rest of them feeling a little helpless. They were all still shaken from the mission. Eli knew Nate, at least, was seeing Lani pretty regularly, and hoped the rest were taking care of themselves as well. He knew he should probably go see her himself, but just couldn't muster the energy.

Church on Sunday was a relief, in a way. For a while he could turn off what was going on at home. Neither he nor Tess were up for the church social, though. And they didn't really want to head home so soon. So they went to his mother's for lunch and a little bit of coddling.

He'd told her the basics of what had happened, so she fussed over Tess a bit and refused to let her help cook. Since he had not been blown up, he was drafted into chopping and stirring and occasionally popping in to make sure Tess didn't need anything. She seemed to be content reading on the couch with the cup of tea Mama had pressed into her hand.

They were nearing the end of whatever elaborate meal his mother was concocting when Tess wandered in holding a framed photo taken off one of the book shelves. "Eli, is this you as a baby?" The note of delight in her voice indicated she already knew the answer to that.

He cleared his throat. "I believe it is."

Behind him his mother said, "I have whole albums."

Tess's eyes widened. "I think it would really make me feel better to see these albums."

Eli put his hand over his eyes. There were definitely bathtub pictures in there. "Lord, help me. How about after dinner?"

She grinned at him. "If you're doing that thing where you try to distract me in the hopes I'll forget, I need you to know it's not going to work. But I will eat dinner so that I have the strength to go through every album your mom wants to show me."

And so after dinner had been cleared, all the albums were spread out on the dining room table, and his mother showed her what had to be every embarrassing picture ever taken of him. Including all the years he was Captain America for Halloween, and even that ill-advised afro he'd had in junior high.

"I am going to need copies of these," Tess said, paging through one from his toddler years. "I don't know how I lived without these."

"I'll make you a book," Mama assured her, clearly pleased with herself.

Tess stopped on a particular page. "Oh, who's this man? He looks just like Eli."

His mother sighed sadly. "That's my younger brother, Josiah."

Tess winced a little, but kept looking at the photo. "Is that his wife?"

"Yes. Lydia. That was probably one of the last pictures of the two of them together. Within a year they were divorced and he was . . . declining."

"She divorced him when his symptoms started?" Tess's level or righteous anger was kind of touching.

But Mama was shaking her head. "No, no. The divorce was first. Papers were signed before he started forgetting things. They just weren't right for each other. Rushed into marriage, if you ask me. But Joe was always doing that. Trying to cram as much into his life as he could."

Tess's expression had turned thoughtful. "So he was completely fine until the divorce?"

"Yes. I think it was just bad timing, unfortunately."

She studied the picture a moment. Eli watched her, could practically hear the wheels turning. When she turned back to his mother, she said, "I'm sorry. I know it's painful. But. . . your father. Did he have any period of stress before exhibiting systems?"

Mama blinked a moment. "I - yes, as a matter of fact. My mother had breast cancer. Six months of chemo therapy. She was pronounced in remission just weeks before he started misplacing things."

Tess moved the photo album off her lap and stood. "I need to borrow your computer."

"Tess?" Eli asked, not sure what she was onto.

"I have a theory," she said, opening up his mother's laptop. "Just let me check one thing."

He got up and went to look over her shoulder. She appeared to be googling the history of Harlem.

 Before he could ask again she started talking, whether to explain it to him or just to talk it out herself he didn't know. "According to his medical file, Ike Bradley was committed to a veteran's hospital with advanced dementia in the fall of 1965. Friends and family said he'd been exhibiting symptoms for about a year." She pulled up a page that looked like old newspaper articles. "In the summer of 1964 there were race riots in Harlem when a white police officer shot an unarmed 15-year-old. Ike would have been right in the middle of them." She sucked in a breath. "Holy shit. We're trying to fix the wrong thing."

"Racism?" his mother asked. 

Eli turned to look at Tess. "Stress."

She was grinning. "Yes. Stress. It's not a malfunctioning serum. It's more like. . . an autoimmune disease. A period of extreme stress after a certain age triggers the response." She bounced to her feet. "Eli!"

Apparently this was good news, though he didn't yet know why. But she was adorable this happy. "Yes?"

"Doc's been trying to fix the wrong problem. It's like using long division to solve a subtraction equation. You're never going to going to get the right answer. But if it's an autoimmune response-" She caught his hand. "There's _treatment_ for autoimmune diseases."

He stared at her. "Do they work?"

"Yes. Autoimmune issues are one of the few health issues they have in Wakanda. They have several different treatments and prevention drugs. It's like diabetes, or severe asthma. You'll probably take some kind of medication for the rest of your life, and maybe when you're older you'll be a little more forgetful but if we can get it dialed in. . ." She shook her head. "It wouldn't be a cure. But it would mean a normal life. With a normal lifespan."

"Are you sure?"

She paused. "I have to talk to Doc. We'll need to run tests, probably call some people in Wakanda. But if I'm right about how it works then, yes, we should be able to figure out a treatment plan."

His mother put her hands over her mouth. Eli searched her face for a moment, then said, "I think I need to sit down."

Tess steered him back to the couch so he could sit. Then she ran to the kitchen and returned with water glasses for him and his mother. "I usually have a better bedside manner, I'm sorry."

"You really think you can do this?" Mama asked.

"I don't want to make promises," Tess said, rubbing his back in little circles. "At this point it's just a theory. But it's more than we had an hour ago."

"What do we do next?"

"I need to talk to Doc. She'll know more than I how realistic this is. Then we'll start looking into the treatments Wakanda uses." She paused and tilted her head. "We may want to start with your uncle. If we can find something that shows some sort of improvement in him then we'd have a better idea of what would work as a preventative for you."

"He's pretty far gone," he warned.

She shook her head. "It may not be a worthwhile test. But it won't do him any harm, and might give us data to help you."

"I'm willing to try."

Her smile was brilliant. "Then we should probably go home and talk to Doc."

It wasn't until they were in the cab on the way home that he said, "This might be the scariest thing yet."

Tess looked at him. Her attention had been elsewhere, too, but probably on different tracks. "Having hope?" she asked gently.

"Yeah. And. . . the possibility of a life? God knows I never considered that."

Reaching over, she touched the back of his hand with the tips of her fingers. "This might be something to talk to Lani about."

He tipped his head back. "Well, it _is_ what shrinks always want to discuss."

"This is big, honey. If I'm right then something you've accepted as fact your entire life isn't going to be true anymore. Having a neutral party to talk to about that would be useful."

Eli sighed. "You're not wrong."

Her fingers curled around his hand. "Would it be easier if I went with you?"

"No. No, I should go alone. I think it's probably a good idea."

She squeezed his hand. "Okay. The offer stands if you change your mind."

He watched the people on the sidewalk as the cab crept along. "Suppose I should wait to see if this pans out before I go open a 401(k)."

Tess laughed a little. "Yeah. We're still in theory phase."

He turned to look at her. "But I have faith in you. And Doc. But mostly you. So I'm willing to entertain some hope for a while there."

He could tell he'd surprised her a little. And touched her. She lifted their joined hands and kissed his knuckles. "I'll do everything I can."

*

Doc was, to put it mildly, ecstatic about Tess's breakthrough. The next couple of weeks were a blur of research and planning. Two Wakandan doctors flew in to consult, experts in auto-immune disease and treatment plans. After looking at all the test and data they had on the Bradley men, and listening to Tess explain the periods of stress that proceeded each dementia case, they agreed her theory had merit and began teaching her and Doc everything they knew about autoimmune reactions. It was fascinating, cutting edge work. Had the patient not been someone she loved, it would have almost been fun.

Rumors spread through the team, of course. Tess spent a lot of time explaining that no, he wasn't cured just yet. Still, it was hope, after years without any. She understood the excitement. It even managed to get Kate out of her sick room, arm wrapped in spider-web like plaster and tucked in a sling. She was still quieter and pricklier than usual, but was genuinely happy for Eli and at least willing to put up with the rest of them and their usual banter.

There was only one shadow on Tess's growing optimism.

"You received two more phone calls today," FRIDAY informed her one evening as Eli was helping her make butter chicken. Doc had gotten her a international cookbook for Christmas and they were determined to try every recipe at least once.

Tess sighed. "Still won't leave a name?" she asked the AI.

"No. And the calls are not long enough to trace."

"Well, thank you for telling me."

"Is this a crazy fan situation?" Eli asked. "We all get those now and again."

"Not sure. It started a couple days ago. Someone calls the main line but won't give a name. So of course they screen. He hangs up and tries again. Like a different operator will give a different result." She used tongs to flip the chicken she was searing. "I just don't know if it's a fan."

"I mean, there's definitely the angry bigot contingent—I get it, Kamala gets it, even Kate sometimes. You don't fit the profile."

She hesitated, not wanting to say out loud what she'd been suspecting. "In all the articles and new segments about me they call me Tess or Dr. Sullivan." She credited Dr. Newbury for the media's adherence to proper address when referring to her. "When this guy calls he asks for Esther."

Eli stopped stirring the sauce and looked at her. "Someone from Harlan?"

"It makes the most sense. I mean, I doubt it would be hard to find my full name if you wanted to. But I figure anyone that went to that much trouble would at least try to talk to me. The fact he'd dodging makes me think he knows i wouldn't answer if I knew who it was." And that was a pretty short list of people.

He crossed his arms over his chest. It was an intimidating image. It made her feel safer in a primitive sort of way. "Your father?"

"Or one of my brothers. Anyone else brave enough to try and call me I'd probably talk to." She took the chicken off the heat and leaned on the counter. "They probably want money."

"Fuck 'em," he replied immediately.

She grinned, having expected nothing less. "Do you think I should talk to them? Or let them wear themselves out?"

"Depends, I guess. You wanna tell them off?"

"I don't know. It's been so long. I thought I was doing well forgetting them." She sighed. "Feels like picking at a scab."

"How well healed is the wound beneath?"

"Can't tell yet. Might be a little bloody."

"If there's any infection in there, it won't heal until you clean in it out." He tasted the sauce. "Using medical metaphors. You really have gotten to me."

Laughing, she shook her head. "Maybe if he works up the testicles to actually tell the operator his name, I'll talk to him."

"Even your insults are doctor-y."

"It's not just a career, it's a way of life."

After a moment of silence he added, "Might feel good to show them up and tell them to piss off."

She didn't answer right away, but moved over to stand next to him and taste his sauce. "It wouldn't be that simple," she told him quietly. "They're not going to just let me tell them how awesome I am and slink away chastised, having learned how wrong they were. They're going to tell me I'm _not_ awesome. They'll turn me back into that nineteen year old who almost talked herself out of going to college because she wasn't as smart as she thought she was."

"You're an _Avenger_."

She sighed, trying to think of how to explain it. "You're an Avenger and people call up to spew racist stuff at you. Nothing else you do matters because they see you with a very narrow, biased viewpoint and always will. But you know you're better than that so even if it might hurt or upset or anger you, you can ignore it. My bigots just happen to be related to me. It's a lot harder to ignore the person who raised you telling you you're worthless."

"Fair point," he replied. "It might be something worth discussing with the team. Some of them have much more fucked up relationships with their families than I do, and far more diabolical thought processes."

The idea of airing her dirty laundry to the team didn't really appeal. But they were her friends, and he was right. This might be a conversation that required more than two heads. "I'll think about it."

"I think we can mix the chicken in now," he said. "Also, I made an appointment with Lani."

She'd been turning to grab the chicken, but stopped and looked at him. "You did? That's great."

He leaned against the counter and shrugged uncomfortably. "The whole thing is surprisingly overwhelming."

"I think it's understandably overwhelming. Just because it's good news doesn't mean it isn't life-altering."

"I just feel very off balance. And literally everyone keeps telling me to go, so. . ." he shrugged again.

She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I'm proud of you. Thank you for giving it a chance."

He kissed her mouth. "Put the chicken in the pot."

"Yes, dear," she murmured, turning away to do so.

*

Lani Wilson's office was very cozy. Eli appreciated the effort she went to to make it comfortable and relaxing in there—soothing lights and beautiful pictures. There was even a little fountain somewhere making gentle trickling water sounds.

When they'd first come to live in the tower, as scared and confused kids, all of them had spent a lot of time in here. Some of them needed it more than others, but they were all messed up, one way or the other. Eli had talked to Lani a bit, back then, but he'd eventually developed a friendship with her husband—there was a particular uniqueness to being a black superhero—and Sam had mostly helped Eli sort himself out. And hadn't said much about his death sentence.

The chair he sat in still felt a little small for his frame. "Have you thought about getting a couch?"

"I've always found it too cliche," she replied. "Also people nap and I feel bad waking them up so my next session can start."

"I can see how you'd nap here."

"I'll take that as a compliment." She shifted a little in her chair, resting a hand on the curve of her just-starting-to-show belly. "So. What would you like to talk about?"

"I might have a future, and I don't know what the fuck to do about that."

"Do you mean in an actual, physical way. Like there's something you haven't done because you thought your time would be short? Or do you mean in the more esoteric immediate way of how to react to this information?"

Good question. "Um. All of the above. I think."

Lani smiled. "Those are both very big things. I've found it helps to break it down into smaller pieces."

"There are fifty thousand pieces. It's like one of those puzzles only lunatics do."

"I have one that's one thousand pieces and just different shades of color. The trick is to take it once piece at a time. Chose one topic and let's break it down. What's the first thing that comes to mind?"

It was probably Lani's bump—they'd announced their impending second child not long ago—that made children the first thing that popped up. "I was adamant I'd never have children."

"And you're now rethinking that?"

"Well, yeah. If I might actually be able to raise them? And they could have a normal life?"

"You know, there are a lot of men who wouldn't have been thinking about being a father until their late twenties even without the kind of medical sentence you've been living with."

"Being uncertain about your future and thinking you don't have one are very different."

Lani inclined her head in what seemed like silent agreement. "Do you feel confident you want that future to include children?"

"Yes," he said, surprised by his own certainty. "But I don't know if I want it to include Avenging."

To her credit, Lani didn't react to that at all. "Is there something else that interests you? Or just a feeling that superheroing doesn't."

"This job is dangerous. And I never gave it a second thought because I had a death sentence anyway. If I don't. . . I don't know."

"Retiring is an option that is always open to you. You could take on a non-combat role or leave entirely. I don't believe that anyone would judge you for that." She steepled her fingers. "I suggest you give yourself permission to entertain the idea. Your death sentence has been lifted, your future is wide open to you. What would you like to do? Go to college? Vocational training? Travel? Be a stay-at-home dad? No plan is too crazy or wrong. You have lots of choices and options."

"I feel like abandoning my team could possibly be wrong."

"Do you feel they would be unable to function without you?"

"Unable to function? Of course not. You work with what you got." He crossed her arms over his chest. "Don't ask me trick questions. But would they function less efficiently? Yeah. Get somebody killed without my strength or someone in charge on the ground? Maybe."

He couldn't read her expression. "The team has lost members before. I assume you're not walking out tomorrow, there'd be time to find and train someone else."

"It's never gone without a heavy hitter on the ground."

"There are other enhanced people coming forward all the time. There are technological methods to turn someone into a heavy hitter. If you were serious about leaving the team, we would work to fill your shoes. The others wouldn't be left in the lurch."

"I think I liked feeling necessary better."

She smiled, not unkindly. "It seems to me you have two conflicting desires. One to leave, and one to be too necessary not to stay." She paused. "Everyone wants to feel needed. To feel part of something. If you left the team, it would require redefining a lot of things. As much as the knowledge you won't suffer from dementia and and early death has."

"I'm not even sure I really want to leave. But I do feel like all my decisions were based one what is now false assumptions."

"That's a fair point," she told him. "And it's fair for you to want to do some thinking. If you're comfortable with it, any of the older group would be happy to talk about this particular issue. And none of them would judge or pressure you in any way."

But they still would have their own opinions and agendas. And they were as bad as his team when it came to keeping things to themselves. "Tess told me to talk to you."

"And I am happy to talk as much as you want. I don't know you very well yet, and some people like to get a lot of different view points. If that's not your way of doing it, then that's fine." She reached over to the little table beside her and grabbed a coffee cup, taking a sip before continuing. "Does Tess know any of the things that have been on your mind?"

"Some. We talked about the kid thing." And she'd had an abortion partially based on his fucked up genes. He wondered if that was going to sit between them now. 

"Does this all seem more immediate because you're with someone you can picture sharing your future with?"

"Yes." The answer was certain and immediate, so much so it surprised him. They talked about it obliquely, though it often seemed to be in negative terms. And he assumed, he _always_ assumed that even if she stuck around, once the man she knew was gone, Tess would move on. "You know she's actually the first girlfriend I've ever had."

Lani's brows went up. "I didn't know that. Though I will say, you two seem a very sweet couple."

"Didn't seem a point to getting emotionally involved in something that wouldn't go anywhere. But she just. . . happened anyway."

"Love has a way of doing that. Sam will happily tell you he was only looking for a shrink when he came out to California to recruit me."

"And here you are."

"Here we are," she agreed, with an affectionate smile. "And here you are," she added, with a gesture to him. "With a girlfriend and a future. Scary though it may be."

"Well, I'm not going to make any changes while Kate's down anyway. That's a hole too big to manage."

"That's probably a good idea. And there's no need to rush whatever decision you make."

"And it could be the treatment won't work." Once he'd opened the door to hope, he'd found the worst case scenario much harder to face.

"That is possible," Lani said. "Which is a possibility everyone needs to be prepared for. But I don't think you're wrong to hope. Or plan."

He thought about what Tess had said, about her father and brothers making her feel worthless, no matter her accomplishments. "Tess needs me to have faith in her."

That seemed to cause a flicker of surprise in Lani's expression. He expected one of her open ended questions, but instead got, "Yes, I think she does."

He gave a little nod, feeling oddly better and not entirely knowing why. "Love is stronger than fear."

"In my experience, love is stronger than just about anything. Especially in this odd little group."

"In your professional opinion, would it be psychologically helpful to her if I knocked those assholes around a bit?" Lani clearly made every effort to keep her patients separate, but he knew she knew what he was talking about.

She tilted her head an considered it. "No," she said finally. "Having someone else beat up your demons doesn't actually prove anything. To you or said demons. I think she's the one who needs to do the knocking."

"Fair enough." He paused. "Though if one of them calls me a nigger I reserve the right to break his jaw." 

"I will fully support that."

"This has been. . . helpful. More than I expected."

"I always like to hear that." Lani had an enigmatic smile. "Does that mean I'll be seeing you more often?"

He shrugged. So probably. "We'll see how it goes."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having a shitty week, so this is going up in the hopes of lightening my mood. It is the last chapter, and also my favorite.

Spring was firmly establishing its grip on New York by the time they gave Eli's uncle his first treatment. Tess went with Doc to administer it, though she spent most of her time going over check lists and warning signs with the two main nurses assigned to him. Doc gave him the shot. Even through the age and illness, Josiah's resemblance to Eli was unsettling. Every time Tess looked at him, she couldn't help picturing the future Eli had spent so long trying to warn her about.

His nurses were both sweet, competent women, one of whom had been a nurse longer than Tess had been alive. They took her checklists, promised regular updates and to be in touch if there was any change, no matter how minor. Tess left feeling he was in good hands.

Unfortunately, there was no immediate, dramatic improvement. Tess knew hoping for him to wake up the next morning chatting and smiling wasn't realistic. But _some_ sort of change would have been nice. On the third week, the nurses reported he was having less belligerent moments, which was something. Josiah wasn't a violet patient - some dementia patients did get very ornery - but he had what one of the nurses described as "opinionated old man" moments. These seemed to be on the decline and both women felt he listened and absorbed more conversation and explanations he was given. It was something.

Doc went alone to give him his second dose, a month exactly after the first treatment, and they settled in for more watching and waiting.

"This is why I didn't want to get into research," Tess commented to the Cassie and Kamala on their way back from lunch a week later. "So much waiting and hand wringing."

"Medical conditions feel just as bad on the other side," Kamala said. "There's plenty of waiting and hand wringing."

Tess knew Kamala had spent a few months trying to figure out what was going on with her after she was injured by vibranium. She imagined it had been rather terrifying. "Eli isn't really talking about it. Sort of. . . around it. But he's hopeful."

"There's not always much to say when you're just waiting."

"I know." They reached the Tower and Tess pulled the door open, holding it for the other two. "I just hate this feeling of anticipation. I just want something to happen."

"Dr. Sullivan," the woman behind the desk called. "You have some guests waiting for you."

Tess looked over in surprise. If the receptionist said anything else she didn't hear her, because she'd looked past the desk at the little group of chairs that made up the waiting area. And there sat her father, her mother, and two of her brothers.

She didn't know what her face looked like. Based on the sudden lightheadedness she suspected she'd gone white. Kamala darted away towards the stairs, which at her pace would be quicker than the elevator, and Cassie stepped closer to Tess's side, poised for a fight.

Her father got to his feet and strolled towards her. For a second she was nineteen again, tired and beaten down and desperate to find whatever she needed to say to get his attention off of her. Then he opened his mouth and drawled, "Hello Esther."

It was like something snapped inside her, like time started back up. She saw him as he was, old and grey and smaller than she remembered. And she drew herself up to her full height and said, calm and cool, "Boyd."

It surprised him. She could see it in his face. She took that moment of doubt to walk past him to her mother and wrap her in a hug. "Hi, Mama."

"Tess," her mother whispered. "I missed you." It was a long hug, and behind her she felt the woosh of air that was Kamala moving, and thumps and shoes on the marble floor. Her father and brothers took a step back in her peripheral vision. It was the sound of glass shattering that made her turn. Nate had come right through the lobby door in his full suit.

They were _all_ in the lobby.

She'd already been choked up from hugging her mother. This threatened to make the tears spill over. "You wanna meet my family?" she asked her mother.

Her father got red-faced. "Now wait a minute-"

"No one asked you to talk," Kate said, twirling a throwing knife through her fingers.

Tugging her mother forward, she said, "Mama, this is Eli. My boyfriend."

Her mother startled a little and she could feel the rumble of anger from the boys. Then her mother stepped forward and held out her hand to him. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Lisa!" her father snarled.

Behind Eli, Peter asked, "You want me to web them?"

Tess grinned. "Thank you, but I'll handle it." She turned to her father and the boys and stepped very deliberately between them and her mother. "You got something to say?"

He seemed to weigh his options, eyeing the group of them and the audience they were drawing. Her father, for all his faults, wasn't _stupid_. "I didn't come here to fight."

She crossed her arms. "Did you come for money?"

"We saw you on the news. Wanted to come see how you were gettin' on."

"So that's a yes, then." He crossed his arms and for a strange, reality tilting moment she realized she looked a lot like him, now that she was grown. "Do you remember what you said to me?" she asked him. "That last night before I left."

He dropped his gaze, for just a moment, which told her that yes, he remembered quite clearly.

"You were wrong," she said softly. "Lots of people like that I'm smart. I save lives, because I'm smart. I'm an Avenger because I'm _smart_. I'm sure you think you can stroll in here tellin' people how I'm your little girl and you taught me everything I know. But that's a lie and we both know it. You wanted to keep me small, Daddy. You don't get to brag that I'm big." She fished her wallet out of her pocket, pulled out two dollars, and tucked them into his shirt pocket. "Thanks for the loan. But that's the only money you're ever getting from me."

His face turned red, she didn't know if it was embarrassment or anger. She didn't have to care. Behind her one of them started to clap, and then everyone did.

Leaning close, she added in a stage whisper, "You were right about one thing, though. I am pretty." With that, she turned around to join the others. "If any of them try to do anything but leave, I don't care what you do."

The elevator pinged and opened, and out stepped Ada, pulling a cart loaded with stuff. "Oh, good, they're still here."

"Miss Ada, I told you to stay upstairs," Vision scolded, having come down with the rest of them.

"Look, I was told there were bad guys in the lobby and I have weapons to test."

Tess started to laugh, she couldn't help it. She laughed so hard she had to lean on Eli for a moment while she caught her breath. "Mama? Would you like to come upstairs for some coffee?"

She glanced back at Boyd, then smiled at Tess. "That sounds lovely."

Tucking an arm around her mother, she lead her towards the elevators, feeling the rest of them close ranks behind them to follow. "I wouldn't expect him to be here when we're done."

Eli reached for her hand. "Well done."

She squeezed his hand. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Hey. We've got your back."

"I know. You're my family."

She had a really nice day with her mom, first coffee then dinner, catching up on all the gossip from back home. Her sister had three kids with a fourth on the way. Her dad and older brothers were the same as they'd always been. But her younger brother, Daniel, had a job at the bank and was taking classes at the community college.

"He's got the spark, like you did," her mother said as Tess walked her out to grab a cab.

"You don't have to go back to Harlan," Tess said. "I could find you a nice place here."

Her mother waved her hand. "My people are there. My grandkids. Naomi needs me. And Daniel needs someone to tell him he can be different."

"I meant what I said, Boyd's never getting a penny of my money." Calling him Boyd instead of Daddy felt remarkably liberating. "But tell Danny if he wants to go to a four year school I'll make it happen." She'd probably be sending Naomi a big box of toys and clothes for the kids, too, but no need to make a fuss about it.

They stepped out into the night air and her mother turned to hug her. "I'm very proud of you, Tessie. More than I can say."

"Thanks Mama." She leaned on her a moment. "You sure you'll be all right. Boyd won't cause you any trouble?"

"Oh, after forty years I can handle your father. By the time we get home I'll have him convinced it was _his_ idea I stay back with you."

Her mother had always had a knack for twisting her father the way she wanted him. "Well, if he gets ornery you remind him you have the Avengers on speed dial."

She laughed and touched Tess's cheek. "Be safe. I'll pray for all of you. Especially Eli. He seems a good boy."

"The best," Tess told her, voice tight.

After a few more hugs, she put her mother in a taxi and watched it disappear into the rest of the traffic. Something heavy and tight that had been sitting in her chest seemed to melt away and it was easier to breathe.

She took a deep breath of cool New York air and looked up at the Tower looming over her head. Eli was waiting for her upstairs, as were the rest of them, hoping to hear how it had gone. For ten years she'd thought her family and home were behind her. Now they were bigger than they'd ever been.

Grinning, she pushed the door open and headed inside.

*

When most people started seeing a therapist, it usually wasn't someone whose apartment you hung out in sometimes to watch basketball. The relationship dynamics and blurry lines in the Tower were something Eli had always found unique.

"You get used to it," Sam told him during a commercial break in said game. "It was like that with all of us. She's good at compartmentalizing. And regular therapy is easier on you both than guerrilla therapy." 

"Guerrilla therapy?"

"How she deals with the people who don't come see her but need to. Amanda practiced guerrilla medicine sometimes." His daughter, Rei, wandered into the living room and stopped in front of the TV to stare at the beer commercial. "Baby, don't stand there," Sam called.

"I suppose Tess is going to have to figure that out."

"Well, she doesn't have Tony Stark to deal with, who was Amanda's biggest headache. Though the Bartons were a close second. Fortunately, they'd rat each other out. Rei, come sit with Daddy, Mama's gonna lecture me about brain development she sees you doing that."

"I hear Kate is a pain in the ass."   
"I have heard absolutely nothing about her trying to skip her PT or use her bow before she's allowed to."

Eli sighed, unsurprised. "I'll talk to her."

"While you're at it, convince her of the merits of therapy," Lani called from the kitchen.

"I really wouldn't hold my breath on that," he called back.

Her sigh was audible from the other room. Sam scooped Rei up and bounced her on his knee. "Kate has caught onto the guerrilla method."

"She and Tess are kind of friends, I can ask."

"Lani can keep wearing her down, too. But coming from you might mean more."

There was a knock at the door. Rei hopped up excitedly. "I'll get it!" They could just have called for FRIDAY to open it, but Rei liked pressing buttons.

She dashed over and hit the button to reveal Tess standing there. She smiled when she saw Rei. "Oh, what a tiny butler."

"Hi Dr. Tess."

"Hey, babe," Eli called. "You come over to watch the game?" Basketball wasn't really her thing, but they tried to keep an open mind about each other's entertainments. Aside from his absolute refusal to listen to Country music.

Her fingers twisted together and her smile turned nervous. "Actually, I have to break it up. Your mom called and asked if we could meet her at your uncle's home."

He lifted his eyebrows. "Has there been a change?"

"Sounds like it. She said she didn't want to talk about it over the phone. I already told Doc, she's on her way."

"Good luck!' Sam and Lani said in adorable unison as he stood. Rei echoed it, though she had no idea why she was saying that.

Tess took his hand as they rode the elevator down. "There should be a car waiting," she told him. I thought maybe we wouldn't be in the mood for public transit."

He waited until they were in the car to ask, "Do you think it's finally worked?"

"I hope so. Your mom didn't sound upset and the reports from the nurses have been consistently positive." She looked over at him. "You should be prepared for it not to be dramatic. He probably just reacted to something, or recognized your mom."

"That would have been very momentous to her."

"I know. And it'll be a fantastic step. I just want to . . . set up realistic expectations."

"I know." He reached for her hand. "Progress is progress."

She nodded and squeezed his hand as they made their way through the city traffic. Uncle Joe was in a very nice care facility in Brooklyn, but it was mid day and Tess drove like she was in a rusted truck in the back roads, which translated to aggressive city driving rather nicely.

The people at the front desk knew them by sight and waved them on after signing in. Joe's room was on the second floor and Eli could hear Doc's voice as they came down the hall. They turned the corner to find her sitting in a chair, talking to Joe, who was in his big easy chair that he all but lived in. He was watching her as she talked, looking more focused than Eli could ever remember seeing him, which was miracle enough.

Then he turned his head to look at them and said, "Eli. Damn, boy, what are they feeding you?"

Eli stared. His uncle was looking straight at him, eyes surprisingly clear. It had _worked_. He was so stunned he said the first thing that popped into his head. "Lots of hot dogs."

Joe barked out a laugh. Mama made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. Tess was grabbing his arm and bouncing up and down. It all seemed oddly distant as he tried to process this.

"This young lady wants to run a bunch of tests on me," Joe said, gesturing at Doc. He spoke slowly, as if hunting for words. But they were clear and coherent when he found them. "But she says we have time to catch up first. Your mama says you're a hero. Like granddaddy."

"Feels weird to describe oneself as a hero. But yeah, that's what I do. Took over for Captain America. Legit, this time."

He grinned. "Good for you."

"And this is my girl," he said, tugging Tess forward.

She waved shyly. "Hi. I'm Tess."

"She figured it out," Mama said. "How to help you."

Joe smiled and reached out for Tess's hand with a shaky one. "Well, then. Thank you very much."

Tess took his hand in both of hers. "It was my absolute pleasure."

"This'll get him fixed up?" he asked her.

"That's the hope. Seeing as how it's working on you."

"That's good," he said quietly. "He's a good kid, he deserves a good life."

Looking a bit teary, Tess nodded. "Yes, he does."

Eli looked at the floor, suddenly afraid he might also get teary. Because it really might actually be true.

There was a moment of awkwardness before Doc stepped in, all business, and took Tess to the side to go over the reports from the nurses and talk about the tests she wanted to run. It gave Eli a minute to gather himself, at least enough to hug his mom and talk with his uncle a bit more. It was still surreal to hear him answering back.

"I didn't think it would work," his mother said quietly. "I hoped, but. . ."

Eli put his arm around her shoulders. "I have faith in Tess."

Amanda came over, in full Doc mode. "We've gotten the okay from the local hospital to bring Josiah in for a few tests. Whenever you guys are ready we should go."

"We have a car downstairs," Eli said.

"Great. You're welcome to come, though there will be a lot of sitting in hospital waiting rooms. I'll need time to sit down and look over all the tests and then you and I can have a meeting about beginning treatment for you."

"I don't mind waiting rooms, but I can go home if I'll be in the way."

She shook her head. "It's entirely up to you."

His mother rubbed his back. "You can head back, if you want. I'll go and maybe we can have lunch with Joe tomorrow. Don't want to wear him out too much today."

"Sounds perfect."

He bent to hug Joe before he left. The old man patted him hard on the back. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

"Good," Eli said, grinning so wide his face was starting to hurt.

Before they left, his mother hugged Tess fiercely. "I know your road wasn't always easy," Eli heard her whisper. "But I thank God for bringing you to us."

Tess nodded, clearly choked up again, before taking Eli's hand to head back out. He put his arm around her as they went down the hall. "You did good."

"It wasn't just me," she insisted. "But I am very, very happy."

"I love you. Like even more than I did before. Which was a lot."

She laughed, then stopped to reach up and wrap her arms around him. "I love you, too."

When they got outside, he stopped and took a deep breath of the afternoon air. "I'm going to grow old," he said quietly.

"Yes, you are. To a ripe old age, I'm guessing."

"Yeah, I'm. . . really going to need to get my head around that."

She tucked her arms around his waist. "How about I take you home and make you some comfort food as you readjust your paradigm?"

"That sounds perfect."

They took a cab home and Tess beelined for the kitchen to figure out what she could whip up. His phone started to buzz about twenty minutes later. Clearly Doc had told someone - probably her husband - about the miracle with Joe and now Steve, Sam, Bucky and God knew who else was texting him congratulations and offers to listen if he needed them.

He chuckled. "Word is getting around."

"You're gonna get tired of talking about it." She glanced over at him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"The whole thing is a little. . . disorienting."

"I can't imagine. Really. Everything that was hypothetical is suddenly. . . real."

He leaned against the counter while she fussed at the stove."I feel like I should let it sink in before I do anything or make any decisions."

"Well I wasn't about to make plans for our twentieth anniversary," she teased. "But I look forward to conversations about the future no longer having a pall on them."

"I want my future to have you in it," he told her. "That's one thing I'm sure of."

She looked over at him and smiled fondly. "I'm not going anywhere."

He opened the dish cabinet so he could set the table. "Good."

Near as he could tell, she was making chicken and dumpling soup, so he fished out the big bowls and spoons. He could feel Tess watching him as he did and after a moment she spoke up. "I know I literally just said I wasn't planning. But can I add something to the list of things we're not making decisions about just yet?"

"Sure. Whatcha got?"

"Would you like to move in together?"

He chuckled. "That sounds like a question that requires a pretty definite answer."

She pursed her lips and sucked her teeth, then said, "Would you like to think about moving in together?"

He came over to try and steal a taste of soup. "This is because I have a better window view, isn't it?"

"Yes, only that."

He grinned at her. "Seems like a valid reason."

She looked over at him. "Is that a yes? Because I had good arguments. FRIDAY compiled behavioral statistics."

"Depends, let me taste the soup." He probably should tease about a topic this serious, but he was in perhaps the best mood of his life. And she knew what his answer was.

"I haven't added the dumplings yet," she warned, handing him a spoon, adding thoughtfully, "I was looking forward to the 'living in sin' portion of my argument."

"Start with your statistics."

She leaned over and kissed him, before going back to her soup. "Maybe after dinner."

*

Two weekends later, they moved Tess's things to Eli's apartment. Darcy Bennet, who approved all housing changes, started muttering about "it happening all over again" but Doc assured Tess not to worry about it.

Six weeks after that, they sat down with Doc and had a long conversation about Josiah's progress and what that meant for Eli. Brain scans and cognitive testing showed continued, steady improvement. Once the treatments had started to counteract his body's autoimmune responses, his brain had begun to heal the damage causing the dementia. He had moved out of the nursing home and was living with Eli's mother, with the real hope that he could live alone sometime in the near future.

Eli was young still, far younger than any of his relatives had been when symptoms began, but he did have a stressful job and was eager to start his treatments sooner rather than later. And so, by the time the leaves in Central Park started to change color, he began monthly shots. They both had notifications on their calendars, as did Doc, and FRIDAY was happy to remind them as well. Side effects were expected to be minimal - he barely even felt the shot - and as soon as they began officially, he seemed lighter and more carefree.

Then one morning he got up and came out into the living room. "I think something is wrong."

She was in the middle of her coffee and email reading, but immediately looked up, concerned. "What is it?"

"It hurts to swallow. Like in the back of my throat."

Frowning, she put down her coffee and stood. "Are you having trouble breathing?"

"No." He sniffled. "But my nose seems to be kind of clogged."

"Huh." She had a doctor's bag in the front closet, which she went and grabbed. After checking his throat, nose, ears and temperature she came to a rather hilarious realization. "Eli. Honey. I think you have a cold."

He stared at her. "A cold?"

"Yes." She wouldn't laugh. She would call his mother and let _her_ laugh. "We warned you the treatments might effect your everyday immune system. Remember the vaccines Doc made you get?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think I'd get, like, regular germs. Is this what a cold feels like? This is terrible."

"It's probably going to get worse. They start out pretty slow."

"What do I do?" His bafflement was going to kill her. She was not going to get out of this without laughing.

"Why don't you go back to bed? I'll talk to Doc about whether or not cold meds will work on you." She couldn't resist smiling a little. "And I'll make you some soup."

"I like soup," he said, sounding remarkably like a little kid, particularly given the pitch of his voice.

"Do you want me to call your mom?" she offered. Sarah would probably laugh with her, but would also probably jump at the chance to nurse her little boy through his first cold.

"No," he said. "You take perfectly good care of me."

She smiled, oddly flattered. "All right. Go get comfortable, I'll bring you some tea for your throat."

"I love you. I shouldn't kiss you, should I?"

"No, not for a few days." She really didn't think both of them sick at once was a good idea. "But I love you too." She blew him a kiss.

"I'm going to go lay down now."

"Grab a box of tissues from the cabinet," she called after him as he headed back to the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for Eli and Tess. We'll be back Friday, the 27th with Kate and Wyatt's story, _Closer to Fine_.


End file.
